the life inside
by sergeant peace
Summary: Marinette and Adrien are about to face the biggest challenge ever...parenthood
1. like a band-aid

" _this is a one-time deal; you understand that…right?"_

 _she nodded ever so slightly as he leaned down and kissed her neck, making her gasp in surprise._

" _I don't want you getting the wrong idea." He whispered as he nipped at her earlobe._

" _I-I won't…' she said breathily running a hand through his hair as he started kissing her collar bone, his hands wandering up the back of her shirt shamelessly._

" _A-A-"_

"Sssssh." He hushed her as he grasped the edges of her shirt and pulling it off, her hands instantly went up to her chest, attempting to cover up.

" _don't," he said, softly taking her wrists and pulling them away from her chest, "there's no need to be shy…"_

" _I…I know…"_

 _he smiled and nipped at her collarbone as his hand went lower, pulling at the elastic band of her pajama bottoms._

" _Marinette…" he whispered softly as his hand went under the thin fabric, making her gasp once more._

" _A-Adrien…" she stuttered out._

"Marinette!" I tiny voice said, forcing Marinette to slowly open her eyes

"Hmm…Tikki?" she asked, sitting up.

"you overslept again." The little Kwami said, making Marinette sigh as she got out of bed.

"don't worry, you only overslept fifteen minutes, you can still make it to school on time."

Marinette hummed quietly as she lazily put on a pair of jeans and a white t-shirt, not bothering to even try and put together an outfit.

"you've been really tired lately Marinette," Tikki said, "have you been getting enough sleep?"

"of course, I always go to sleep by 10, and usually I'll be asleep before that."

"maybe you're getting sick."

"I hope not," Marinette muttered, "exams are coming up, I can't afford to be sick, she stopped talking as she went down the stairs, Tikki quickly flew into her bag, a split second before her mother looked up.

"here, take a bagel and some coffee for the road," her mother said kindly.

"thanks Maman," Marinette said, giving her mother a kiss on the cheek, then walking down the stairs and out of the bakery, where almost instantly she met up with Alya.

"hey girl! On time for once, that's surprising." She teased.

"funny thing about that, I actually overslept." Marinette said with a tired smile.

"girl, you've been half dead for a week now, what's wrong?"

"Don't know," Marinette mumbled as they started walking down the side walk, "I just been feeling completely drained lately, and I've been going to sleep earlier than usual to try and get rid of the feeling…"

"Hmm…maybe you're stressed, after all, you have been busy on those end of the year Dance plans you put into the making."

Marinette nodded, "everything's put in order, all I have to do is turn it in to Madam Bustier and we should get approved."

"you are on top of things girl! After you turn it in, you should reward yourself with a celebratory nap."

"if only," Marinette said with a light laugh as they entered the college.

"yo Alya, Marinette." Nino called to them as they walked towards their usual bench, where Nino and Adrien were already waiting, "how you two doin' today?"

"we're doing great," Alya said, giving Nino a peck on the cheek, "Marinette's a little tired though."

"are you alright Marinette?" Adrien asked her, concerned for his friend.

"I'm fine Adrien," she said with a tired smile, "I'm just…stressed…"

"okay…if there's anything you need."

"I know." She mumbled, looking away from him and to Alya, who was giving her a strange look.

"we should get to class, bells about to ring." Marinette said, walking towards the stairs, only to be stopped by Alya while Nino and Adrien walked past her.

"We'll catch up guys!" Alya said with a smile, then she turned to Marinette, "okay girl, you've been giving Adrien the cold shoulder for over a month now, and I've been trying to keep my nose out of it, but now my curiosity has peaked, so spill girl."

"Alya, it's nothing," she said.

"are you sure?" he asked, "because a month and a half ago you were all over him, and now?"

"things change Alya," Marinette said, "I just…" she sighed.

"Girl, I know you, something happened between you two, and I'm worried that you're not telling me, we tell each other everything, right?"

Marinette sighed, "I'll tell you at lunch," She said, "right now, we need to get to class."

Alya nodded, giving Marinette a side hug as they walked towards the steps, when they walked into the class room, both Nino and Adrien looked up.

"Everything alright you two?" Nino asked.

"yeah, we're good, just asking Mari about a dress I want her to design for me," Alya said, leaning in and whispering to Nino, "Backless, deep V-neck, sheer."

"hehe…I…whoa…" Nino spluttered with a stupid grin.

Adrien rolled his eyes, "Get a room you two."

"don't tempt me Agreste." Alya said. Walking up to her seat.

As Marinette walks past Adrien, he grabbed her wrist, makin her jump slightly.

"are you sure you're okay?" he asked her softly.

"I'm fine Adrien," she said firmly, 'no need to worry yourself."

"Mari-"

"I said I'm fine." She snapped, ripping her wrist from Adrien's grip.

"Mari," Alya whispered fiercely when Marinette sat down. "what was that?"

"just…not right now Alya." Marinette said tiredly, pulling a binder out of her bag.

Alya looked at her in concern, but didn't press the topic, for the rest of the morning, Marinette sat in silence beside Alya, her mood going from guilt, to anger, to sadness and then back again; so when the bell rang for lunch, she had never felt more relieved.

"come on girl," Alya said as they stood and walked out of the classroom, "you got some explaining to do."

Nino watched as his girlfriend and Marinette walked out of the college, "yo bro," he said to Adrien, "what's with Marinette giving you the cold shoulder lately?"

"uh…something happened…about a month ago."

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"Okay girl, spill." Alya said as she sat on her computer chair, looking at Marinette with arms crossed. "what's with giving Adrien the cold shoulder?"

Marinette sighed, _had to tell her sooner or later,_ "do you…do you remember that project we had to work on a couple of months ago?"

"yeah, you were paired up with Adrien and could not be happier." Alya said.

Marinette nodded, "well…something happened, the last day before the project was do…we were…we were in his room, and we were just…talking, the project was done, and Adrien had coaxed the cook to 'lend' us a couple of bottles of wine, so we were drinking, and talking, and-"

"-wait…don't tell me, you two…" Alya's eyes widened, "you two did it didn't you!?"

Marinette flinched at that, "um…well…yes"

"no…way…you and Adrien had sex, and you didn't even tell me! I would've thought you would've been bouncing off the walls ecstatic about it!"

"I would've been…if he hadn't of said beforehand that it was a one-time thing,"

"Oh Mari…"

"he didn't want a relationship, at least not with me, he made that pretty clear." Marinette mumbled, "and I understood…and I tried not to let that affect me…but during he was so gentle…caring…I just…" she sighed, " I couldn't, not fall for him, so after I left, I tried to distance myself, keep all of my feelings to myself, it wouldn't be fair to Adrien if i were to keep pursuing him…even after he told me he didn't want a relationship."

"that doesn't explain why you've been so snippy to him these past few weeks." Alya said, 'I mean, he says one word and you bite his head off…come to think of it you've been like that with everyone."

"I've just been irritated lately, tired too."

Alya looked at her in concern, "Mari…were you two being…safe?"

Marinette paled at that, "I…I…um…" she racked her brain, "I…can't remember."

"WHAT!" Alya shrieked, before covering her mouth quickly, 'What?" she whispered fiercely.

"I-it was a hazy night! She defended, "I can't remember everything!"

"oh my god Mari! Do you know what this could mean?!"

"I'm…starting to see what it could mean…" Marinette mumbled, her hand slowly going up to her stomach.

"Do you think…"

"I'm…I'm not sure, I mean, it would explain how I've been feeling lately…"

"well, we gotta find out for sure," Alya said, standing up and grabbing her bag, "Come on, we're making a pit stop at the store."

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"dude, you are such an idiot."

"I know," Adrien said with a sigh.

"I don't think you do," Nino said, leaning back in his chair, "do you understand how Marinette feels about you?"

"yeah, I know, she hates my guts."

"damn it man that's not how she feels at all!" Nino exclaimed, making Adrien jump slightly, "that girl has been crazy about you since you gave her your umbrella three years ago!"

"w-what!?" Adrien asked, stunned, "but…she can barely get a sentence out when she's around me! she's always tense and…I am such an idiot."

Nino rolled his eyes, "about time you caught on, so now you know how much this probably hurt her?" he took his hat off and ran his hand through his short hair, "to hear her crush say, 'yeah, lets sleep together, but don't get the wrong idea, it's only for tonight.' That probably destroyed her inside!"

"I messed up, I get it, but what can I do to fix it?"

"not much you can do," Nino muttered, "just hope she doesn't completely hate you."

Adrien scratched the back of his head, "I'm going to talk to her."

"no- "

"I'm going to talk to her."

"Adrien- "

"what's the worst that could happen? I talk to her, we come to an understanding."

"or she refuses to talk to you, and Alya cuts your junk off."

Adrien shivered, "but I can't leave it like this man."

"you don't really have a choice bro, anything you say now would just make things worse."

Adrien sighed, "so she's just gonna hate me from now on?"

"Mari doesn't hate people bro, but she probably won't be talking to you anytime soon, least not until she gets this all figured out."

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"you want me to do the test right now! Class starts in twenty minutes."

"yeah, but it only takes twelve minutes for the test to give a yay or a nay." Alya said, "so go into the girl's room, pee on the stick, and we'll go from there."

Marinette groaned but quickly went into the bathroom.

Alya smiled and shook her head, 'let's hope that test is wrong," she mumbled, "otherwise I'm gonna have to deal with two children."

 _What will I do?_

That's the only thought Marinette had as she waited for the test to finish, what will she do if it was positive? What would she tell her parents? Adrien? All the scenarios that could happen were running through her head, and almost none of them were good.

As her phone went off, indicating the time was up, she took a deep breath, and looked at the pregnancy test, she let out a breath that she didn't know she was holding as she saw the tiny little pink plus on the stick, "oh my god,' she whispered, covering her mouth as tears started to fall.

"Marinette," Tikki said, flying up to her, "it'll be alright.'

"no it won't Tikki," she said, wiping away a couple of tears from her eyes, "I'm…I…I messed up!"

"it can't be helped," Tikki said, "the best we can do is start getting everything together."

"Tikki…this might mean that I can't be Ladybug anymore…"

"we'll cross that bridge when we come to it Marinette, for now, let's go see Alya and let her know."

Marinette took a deep breath and nodded, slowly standing up and walking out of the bathroom, as she walked into the courtyard, she was almost ambushed by Alya, who jumped up from her spot and ran over to Marinette, "Well?" she asked.

"it's a plus…" Marinette said softly, not trusting herself to talk any louder.

"oh Mari…" Alya hugged her tightly, "we'll get through this girl…"

Marinette nodded slightly as she leaned into Alya, tears flowing freely.

"Girl…are you going to tell Adrien?" She asked softly.

Marinette shook her head, "I'm not dragging him into this." she whispered.

"Mari, he deserves to know."

"I know," she said, slowly pulling away from Alya, "but…what if he decides to just pretend that night didn't happen?

"he pulls something like that and I'll break my foot off in his ass."

Marinette giggled, making Alya smile. "so…you really think I should tell him?"

Alya nodded, "he deserves to know, it is his kid, right?"

"he's the only one I've…you know…"

"then you need to tell him, if you want, I can be there with you when you tell him."

"thanks Alya," Marinette said, "don't know what I did to deserve you as a friend."

Alya gave her a side hug as they started walking towards the classroom, "just call me your fairy godmother, or your daughters godmother, I'll take either or."

Throughout the rest of the afternoon class period, Marinette couldn't help but steal glances at Adrien, worried about what the young blonde would say,

"relax Mari," Alya would say, "it'll be like ripping off a band aid."

Marinette would nod and slowly calm herself down, only to psych herself out once again as she thought about what would happen. So when the bell rang, Marinette couldn't jump up fast enough, she quickly threw everything in her bag and fast-walked past Adrien, grabbing his arm as she did, "we need to talk," she mumbled, paying no attention to Chloe's indignant shrieking about stealing Adrien.

"um…okay…" he said with a nervous laugh as he tried to keep in step with her, "where are we going?"

"Somewhere private," she said as she pulled him into an unused classroom, she let go of his arm as soon as she was sure he was in the room.

"so…I think I need to say something." Adrien started, scratching the back of his head, 'I…um…well…"

"be quiet." Marinette said sternly, making Adrien stiffen up.

"Yes ma'am.' He said quickly.

"I have something to tell you," she said, "and…and it's pretty big, like, life changing big."

"I think I know what it is." Adrien said, relaxing slightly.

Marinette's eyes widened, "w-what? You d-do?"

"yeah…Nino told me…"

"how'd he know!?"

"he said it was obvious!"

instantly Marinette wrapped her arms around her stomach, "I…didn't think it was…yet..."

"well, to be honest I should've seen it, I was just too dense to realize it…and…Marinette, I'm sorry…if I had known, I wouldn't have suggested we do what we did."

"wait…what?" Marinette asked in confusion, "what are you talking about?"

Adrien looked at her, "about…your crush on me…that's what you wanted to talk to me about, right?"

"no."

"oh…then…what did you want to talk about if not that?"

Marinette pursed her lips hesitating for a few seconds, "I'm…I'm pregnant," she said with an air of finality.

Adrien looked at her with a stunned expression, "p-p-p-p-p-p-p-p-p-p-p" he tried to get out the word but couldn't seem to form the word until Marinette slapped him, "Pregnant?" he asked weakly.

She nodded slowly.

"I…uh…how?"

Marinette raised an eyebrow, "you were there Adrien, do I have to explain it?" she asked dryly.

"that's not what I meant," he said, rubbing his arm, "I mean…we were safe, we made sure!"

"weren't safe enough I guess." Marinette mumbled.

"So…um…what are we going to do about this?" Adrien asked, "do you…want to get rid of…him? Her?"

Marinette looked at him in shock, "I am not aborting this baby," she said, glaring at him.

"I wasn't saying we should! I'm just asking you what you want to do!" Adrien snapped, sending a glare right back.

Marinette took a deep breath, 'I know, sorry," She said, pushing a strand of hair out of her face, "I don't know why I keep getting so mad lately."

"That would be the mood swings," Adrien said, giving a nervous chuckle when she glares at him, "Look Marinette, I'll support anything you do one hundred percent, whether you want to keep the kid or…something else, I will be right by your side."

she looked away from him, hugging her arms to her chest, "that's the problem…" she whispered, "I don't know what to do."

"Mari-"

"I know I don't want to give this baby away," she said, "and I know I don't want to abort it…but…how am I going to be able to take care of child? I can barely take care of myself! And then keeping the baby will ruin your reputation and your fathers reputation, and-and-" she stopped as she felt strong arms wrap around her.

"Don't worry Marinette," Adrien said softly, "I don't care about my reputation…and I'll be right beside you, raising this child."

"I…I…" she started to sob into his chest.

"it's okay Mari…we'll get through this…I know we will."

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Marinette sat beside Adrien as they waited for her parents to get done down in the bakery, "are you sure you want to tell them today?" Adrien asked her softly, "we can keep it a secret for at least a few days."

"If I wait a few days I'll find an excuse to not tell them." Marinette mumbled, "So better to do it right now and get it out of the way…like a Band-Aid."

Adrien nodded slowly, they sat in an uncomfortable silence until Adrien cleared his throat and looked at her, "so um…do you think…do you think your dad will kill me?"

"what?" Marinette asked, completely thrown off by his question, "why would he do that?"

"well, I just impregnated his only daughter, if he doesn't at least try I'd be worried."

Marinette started to laugh. "don't worry, I think Maman will stop him from killing you, if only so she can kill me first."

"well that's just not fair, I think we should all get equal death opportunities."

Marinette started to laugh harder, making Adrien smile.

"alright! done with the dishes," Tom said, walking up the stairs and looking at Marinette and Adrien who were laughing on the couch, "what'd you two need to talk to us about?"

instantly Adrien and Marinette stopped laughing, nervously looking at each other.

"I'm guessing it's not good news," Sabine said, standing next to Tom.

"um…depends on how you look at it." Adrien said with a nervous chuckle, "I mean, some people like when something like this happens, and- " he stopped talking as Tom gave him a glare, something Adrien was unaccustomed to, "your dad is seriously going to bake me into a pie." Adrien whispered to Marinette, who rolled her eyes.

"Marinette," Sabine said, looking her daughter straight in the eyes, "what do you need to say?"

"I…um…I…"

"Marinette," Sabine said again, stopping her stuttering, "whatever it is, I'm sure we can all work through it, you know me and your father are here for you."

Marinette started to tear up, "Maman…papa…I'm…"

"Marinette is pregnant," Adrien said, making all three look at him in shock, "and I'm the father, and um…and before you kill me and display my body at the Eiffel tower, I just want you to know that I will do everything in my power to make sure that both your daughter and the child is well cared for."

Marinette looked at Adrien, then at her parents, tears threatening to fall.

"are you sure?" Sabine asked Marinette, "are you completely positive that you're pregnant?"

Marinette nodded slowly. "I'm so sorry Maman…" she croaked out, making her mother wrap her arms around her.

"Adrien," Tom said sternly, walking up to the blond.

"y-yes sir." Adrien stuttered out.

"while I admire your words, that's all they are at the moment, words, how do we know you'll stick by our daughter when the going gets rough."

"sir, I am not going to turn my back on Marinette, no matter what happens, that I promise." Adrien said firmly, not looking away from Tom's hard stare.

Tom sighed, then turned to Marinette, who was still crying in her mother's arm, "Marinette, I thought we taught you to be more responsible than this!"

"Tom, not right now." Sabine chastised, "I'm going to take Marinette upstairs, why don't you take Adrien home, you can talk things over with his father."

"sounds like a great idea." Tom said, walking up to his daughter and kissing her forehead, before turning to Adrien, "Come on son, let's go have a heart to heart with your father."


	2. disappointed

Adrien sat next to Tom as the Gorilla drove them to the Agreste Mansion.

"So…baking…that's fun, right?" Adrien asked, trying to start a conversation.

"it's…okay…" Tom said, "um…and modelling? Is that…good?"

"it's fine…not really my choice though, do it for my father…"

"ah, family business…"

"r-right…"

they sat in tense silence for a couple of minutes, until Tom cleared his throat. "So…about this whole…pregnancy thing."

The car suddenly screeched to a halt, making both Adrien and Tom lurch forward. "what the-" Tom started looking at Gorilla, who was looking at Adrien in shock.

"you are pregnant!?" he asked, his voice thick with a Slavic accent.

"Um…I'm not…but…Marinette is."

"you are father?"

Adrien looked at Tom nervously, then back at Gorilla with a nod of his head.

"oh…Mr. Agreste is going to kill you." he said, turning around and continuing the drive.

"that's two dads that I think are going to kill me." Adrien muttered.

"I won't kill you Adrien." Tom said, patting the boy on his shoulder, "but if you hurt my daughter in anyway, I'll make you wish you were dead."

Gorilla chuckled as Adrien spluttered out a 'yes sir', "we are here." Gorilla said, pulling up to the curb, he got out and went to open the door, but Tom had already opened the door and walked up to the gate, which had already swung open.

"come on son," Tom said, walking towards the front door, Adrien following, 'lets go speak to your father."

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Adrien sat outside his father's office with tom, Natalie pacing back and forth in front of them.

"of all the immature, stupid things…" she was muttering, stopping in front of Adrien, "I can't believe what you did Adrien! You said that you and Marinette were friends and that was it!"

Adrien sank in his chair, trying to disappear, _if Natalie's going to scold me like this, what's my father going to say?_

"Mademoiselle Sancoeur," tom started, "I know that you're usually in charge of Adrien, but I think it'd be good to talk to Monsieur Agreste."

"he's in a meeting at the moment," Natalie said, sitting down at her desk, letting out a sigh as she held her head, "what possessed you to do something! Weren't you two safe? Or at least trying to be safe!?"

"we thought we were." Adrien mumbled lamely, making Natalie sigh.

"your father will not be happy." Natalie said.

"I know, but I'm not going to abandon Marinette, no matter what."

Natalie just shook her head as she hid a small smile, even when in trouble, Adrien was trying to look out for others.

"Natalie." Gabriel's voice said over the intercom, "did you say I had an urgent meeting?"

"yes sir," she said, pressing the intercom button, "Tom Dupain and your son are here to speak with you."

there were a few moments of silence before Gabriel's voice came back, "Send them in."

"go on in you two." Natalie said, making both Tom and Adrien stand up, "don't say anything to get him angrier then he probably is." She said to Adrien.

"yeah…maybe I should just stay out here then."

Natalie gave him an unimpressed look and Adrien laughed nervously, walking into his father's office, where Gabriel sat, looking at Tom and him with the usual cold, calculating stare.

"Monsieur Dupain," Gabriel said, standing up, holding his hand out.

"Monsieur Agreste." Tom greeted, shaking his hand.

"to what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?" he asked, looking at Adrien, "something to do with my son?"

"yes, actually." Tom said, "it seems your son and my daughter are something of an item."

Gabriel raised his eyebrow, "oh?" he asked, "your daughter…is Marinette Dupain-Cheng?"

"yes."

"I met her not too long ago," Gabriel said, looking at Adrien, "if you and her were together, you should have properly introduced us Adrien."

"we…aren't…necessarily together." Adrien mumbled.

Gabriel narrowed his eyes at that, then turned to Tom.

"it seems, during a night of fun between the two, Marinette got pregnant."

Gabriel's eyes widened, he looked between Tom and Adrien, "I…what?"

"Marinette's pregnant father." Adrien spoke up, "and I'm the…I'm the father."

Gabriel looked at his son as he slowly sat back down, "Monsieur Dupain…" Gabriel started, "how far along is Marinette?"

"I would say about a month and a half." Tom said, "that's when they did the project together…"

He nodded numbly, "and…do you have everything you need? Diapers, clothes, baby food?"

"well…not yet…but I'm sure we can get all that before the baby arrives."

"should you need any help, feel free to contact me." Gabriel said, writing his personal number on a slip of paper and handing it to Tom, "now, if you'll excuse me, I need to talk to my son, alone."

Tom nodded, patting Adrien's shoulder, "take care son." He said, walking out.

Adrien flinched slightly as the door closed shut, he chanced a look at his dad, and almost instantly looked down when he found the man staring back him.

"Adrien…"

"father?"

"i…am very disappointed in you." he said, taking his glasses off and rubbing his eyes," have you any idea what the consequences of this is going to bring onto you? onto me?"

"I wasn't thinking when it happened." Adrien muttered, "all I could think of was that she was beautiful…and smart, and funny, and we both made a stupid decision…" he looked up at his father.

Gabriel stood up and looked out the window, his hands clasped behind his back, "you do realize that we'll have to get rid of almost all of your extracurricular activities."

"yes sir." Adrien muttered.

"and you may have to take up more photoshoots to gain a little more money for yourself and Marinette."

"I have a lot saved up father." Adrien said, "I can support us both for a while at least."

"be that as it may, a steady source of income never hurts." He looked at his son, "you are dismissed."

Adrien looked at his father in shock, "y-you're not mad?"

"you are dismissed." He said again, putting a slight edge to his voice, making Adrien take a few steps back.

"yes father.' He mumbled, walking out, his hands in his pockets.

"Adrien," Natalie asked, "are you alright?"

"I'm fine Natalie…it's just…he didn't even get mad at that…acted like it was more of an inconvenience to him then anything else."

Natalie just sighed, "I'm sorry Adrien, I wish there was something I could do."

Adrien just sighed, "it's ok Natalie, I'll talk to you tomorrow…kind of tired…"

"of course, goodnight Adrien." She watched him as he started to leave, "A-Adrien!" she called, making him stop, "just so you know, me and Ian will always be there for you."

"thank you…who's Ian?"

Natalie chuckled, "the Gorilla."

"oh…OH! How'd I never know his name?"

Natalie continued to chuckle, "go to bed Adrien, tomorrow's a new day."

Adrien nodded with a smile and left. "yeah…a new day…" he said as he went into his room and closed the door, almost instantly, Plagg flew out of his pocket and started hitting him.

"ow! Plagg stop! Hey!"

"you stupid boy!" Plagg snapped, "you got her pregnant! You told me you two were safe!"

"We were! I made sure!"

"oh, why do I get the stupid kittens!?" Plagg lamented, flying a little ways away, "you know how hard it's going to be to be Chat Noir while also being a father!"

"I know! But I'll manage…somehow."

Plagg glared at him, then sighed, "Well, I guess congratulations are in order, you're going to be a father."

"yeah…I am…" adrien said, sitting down, "with marinette…who had a crush on me…"

"you could do a lot worse." Plagg said, flying over to his camembert stash, "she's a nice one, that kid, pretty too,"

"yeah…I just wish I knew how she felt months ago, after that whole 'trying to confess to ladybug' fiasco came to an end."

"yeah, you should've given up on that the moment you started, but hey, you have a chance to have happy life with a beautiful girl, I'd put that in the win column."

"yeah…so would i."

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Marinette slowly walked down the stairs, looking around as she did.

"your father's downstairs." Her mother said, making her jump slightly.

"Maman…"

"come eat," Sabine said, putting a couple of croissants out on the counter, "you're actually early for once, so you can relax and eat."

Marinette sat down and nibbled on a croissant, until her mother made a "tsk' noise and put another croissant in front of her, "eat both of them, you're eating for two now." She said gently.

Marinette nodded mutely and started to take real bites, grimacing slightly.

"What's wrong honey?" Sabine asked.

"n-nothing, just…my stomach's a little queasy."

"hmmm, I was the same way before I started getting morning sickness." Sabine said, "So my advice, eat while you can, pretty soon you won't be able to keep it down."

Marinette nodded, "um…Maman…why aren't you getting mad at me?"

"why would i?" she asked, walking over to her daughter and putting a hand on her shoulder, "it's true, you made a mistake; but I'm not going to give you the cold shoulder for it, you have life growing inside of you Marinette, now is not the time for silly grudges…after all….you're almost a full grown woman." Marinette wrapped her arms around her mother, who just smiled and held her, "you can't stay my little girl forever," she whispered.

"Maman…I'm so scared…" She mumbled.

"so was I," Sabine said, "but your father, and his family, were right there to help, as were my parents, it'll be the same with you and Adrien, okay?"

"okay…" Marinette sniffled, "god, I need to stop crying, it's like every day something sets me off."

Sabine giggled as she let her daughter go, "it'll be like that for a while, just don't be too rough on Adrien when you start getting irritated."

Marinette smiled, "okay Maman…"

"now, go ahead and head to school, I'll see you at lunch."

"okay, I love you Maman."

"I love you too sweetie." Sabine said as she walked down the stairs, just as Tom was walking up.

"Marinette." Tom started, making Marinette stop and look at him.

"y-yes papa?" she asked hesitantly.

"um…I…have a good day at school." He said awkwardly, walking up the stairs, Marinette deflated a little and walked the rest of the way down and out of the door, where Alya and Nino were waiting.

"So, how'd everything go?" Alya asked.

She smiled tiredly, "as good as it could be." She mumbled, "Maman seems to be okay with it…but…"

"but your dad isn't exactly thrilled, right?" Alya asked.

"he barely even talked to me when I walked by him on the stairs." She sighed. "and yesterday he sounded so mad..."

"he'll get over it." Alya said, "come on, let's get to school."

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Adrien watched as Marinette walked in, looking more tired then she had ever seen her before, like he had the day before, he gently stopped her, "Marinette…" he whispered softly, "you alright?"

"I'm fine Adrien, just really…really tired." She mumbled, carefully pulling her hand away from him, "I'll talk to you at lunch, okay?"

"Okay…" Adrien said, sitting back in his seat while Marinette sat down.

"you good man?" Nino asked, sitting next to him.

"yeah…I just feel bad; she looks so tired now."

"nothing you can do about that, just gotta be there for her."

"yeah, and I will…" he said, then pulled his phone out and texted Alya.

 _Want to help me out this evening?_

After a few seconds, he got a reply

 **Sure, but with what?  
**

 _Something that I have to, and want to do for Marinette, and you know her taste better than I do for now._

 **Hold on, back up, time out, flag on the play, are you doing what I think you're doing?**

 _Guess we'll find out, right?_

"Bro," Nino nudged him just as Mme. Bustier walked in, Adrien quickly put his phone up and pulled out his notebook.

"today is a study day," Mme. Bustier started, "but before I allow you to go off on your own, our class representative would like to have your attention, Marinette?"

Marinette stood up and walked down the steps, sidestepping Chloe's attempt to trip her, "alright" Marinette said, "as you all know, I've been trying to get an end of the year dance approved my M. Damocles,"

instantly everyone was paying attention, looking at Marinette hopefully.

"and after putting a lot of time and effort into the plans for one, I have finally gotten it approved."

everyone cheered, "hell yeah!" Kim shouted, jumping up.

Marinette smiled and waited for everyone to calm down before continuing, "now, just because it's been approved, doesn't mean it can't get cancelled, so we all have to be on our best behavior for the next two months, we also need to come together and finalize the plans, calling caterers, decorating, everything that needs to get done for this needs to be done by the end of May."

"what about entertainment?" Nathanael asked quietly, making everyone look back at the quiet artist, "you didn't mention anything about it."

Marinette's smile widened, "you're right, I didn't mention it, because I have already taken care of it, I called in a favor from one of my uncles, and he agreed to come and perform for us."

"hah!" Chloe scoffed, "as if anyone you know is famous enough to be worthy of playing at our dance! Probably some wannabe rocker who thinks this can be his big break."

Marinette felt her lip twitch but she attempted to keep herself calm, "it's Jagged Stone." She said simply, and instantly there was an uproar.

"how did you get Jagged stone!?" Nino asked in amazement.

"are you two really related?" Alix asked, feigning disinterest, but looking at Marinette in curiosity.

"there is no way Jagged Stone would ever have anything to do with you!" Chloe snapped.

"if you don't remember, Chloe, I've designed his album covers for three years now, as well as making his latest outfit, he's been wanting to do me a favor for a long time, and he said that he would gladly do this for me."

"as if! You're probably blackmailing him."

Marinette gritted her teeth, "okay, listen here you spoiled little bi- " before she could continue, Adrien had jumped up and put his hand over her mouth, she looked at him with rage in her eyes, until he spoke.

"Chloe, will you back off for once?" Adrien asked, 'Marinette's worked hard on this project for most of this and last semester, with you and everyone else demanding a lot from her, and now that she's got it approved, you're gonna complain? That's pretty screwed up, even for you."

Everyone looked at Chloe, waiting for her response, but she just stayed quiet, "whatever." She huffed, leaning back.

He pulled his hand away from Marinette, who was no longer glaring at him, but now looked green, 'um…Mm. Bustier, I think Marinette needs to-"

'may I please be excused for a second?" Marinette asked queasily.

"of course Marinette." Mme. Bustier said, and instantly Marinette was out the door, Adrien looked after her worriedly and looked at Mme. Bustier.

"go ahead Adrien," she said, then leaned in and whispered, "you're father already explained the situation to the faculty."

"R-right." Adrien said, running out after Marinette.

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Marinette groaned as she finished throwing up her breakfast for the morning, she was hugging the toilet, not wanting to move from the spot,

"Marinette?" Adrien called from the door, "are you alright?"

"I'm fine." She croaked out, wiping her mouth, "go back to class Adrien."

"not until I'm sure you're fine."

"I'm not helpless you know!" Marinette snapped, before heaving once more into the toilet.

"I know that," he said patiently, "I just want to make sure you won't need anything."

Marinette hesitated, then, very weakly, said, "a-actually…can you get me a drink?"

"Sure thing Mari."

Marinette slowly let go of the commode and sat back against the stall wall, letting her stomach settle, within a few minutes there came a tentative knock at the bathroom door.

"come in Adrien, I'm decent." She mumbled, soon the stall door was open and Adrien was kneeling beside her, handing her a cup of water. "thank you," she said gratefully, drinking the cup in two big gulps.

"I don't think you're helpless." Adrien said, making her look at him, "but I want to make sure you know that I'm not useless, I can help you with a lot of things, even when you don't think you need help."

Marinette sighed, "you know," she mumbled, "this would've probably been a dream come true to me."

"uh…"

'not the puking," she said dryly, "what you just said, about wanting to be there for me…helping me even when I didn't know I needed it…maybe even having this baby with you, it was all something that I probably wished for once or twice…"

"and now?" Adrien asked, sitting next to her.

"Now I don't' know what to think." Marinette muttered, "Now, I'm having a child with someone who I just realized, I barely know."

"Hmm…well if it makes you feel better, I barely know you."

"yeah, makes me feel loads better," Marinette said sarcastically.

"but I would like to get to know you." Adrien said, making Marinette look at him, "I mean, before all this happened, I thought you hated me; so I kept my distance, tried not to make you hate me anymore then you did, but now I know different, and I want to get to know the real Marinette Dupain-cheng."

Marinette smiled, "well, you'll have plenty of opportunities to do that in the next nine months.

"and I'm looking forward to it.' Adrien said, "in fact, lets start this week, how would you like to go to dinner with me this Friday, at Pierre Gagnaire?"

Marinette's eyes widened, "that's one of the best restaurants in Paris!"

"I know, that's why I want to take you there, if you'll let me."

"i…I don't know…our parents…they may not let us…"

"I haven't been grounded." Adrien said, "have you?"

"n-not officially…"

"Then it's settled!" Adrien said standing up, "we go, we just tell our parents the truth, we're getting to know each other better."

"I…okay, but I want you to realize something first."

"and what's that?" Adrien asked.

"I want you to realize that you don't have to be obliged to ask me out and try to be a couple with me, just because of the baby." She said, slowly standing up, "that's unfair to you."

Adrien hesitated, then said, 'you know, if I had known, what I knew now, I probably would've done everything differently.'

"oh?"

"yeah, I would've tried going out with you, I mean…I've been hung up on some unobtainable girl, who I just realized not too long ago wasn't warming up to me, so when that night happened between you and me, I felt good, because I was starting to move on, but if I had known how you felt, I would've asked you out in an instant."

Marinette smiled a little at that. "but still, don't feel obligated."

took Marinette's hand in his, "I'm obligated, not because of the baby, but because of who I am and how I feel." He said with a smile, "now come on, before they send a search party for us."

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Alya watched as Marinette walked into the Bakery, waving good-bye to her, nino and Adrien as she did, "alright Lover Boy," Alya said to Adrien, turning around with her hand on her hip, "do you want your scolding from me now, or later?"

"how about later," Adrien said, "I kinda need to get what I want to get for Marinette as quickly as possible."

Alya narrowed her eyes, then shrugged, "alright, let's go, now, I have to ask, are you getting her, what I think you're getting her?"

Adrien smiled and nodded. Making Alya squeal with Joy, "oh my god! I can't believe it!"

"hold on, what's he gettin' her?" Nino asked in confusion.

Alya rolled her eyes, "come on, I'll fill you in on the way."


	3. the perfect one

"this is so hard."

Alya rolled her eyes, glaring at Nino and Adrien, who were flipping through catalogs while they waited in a jewelry store, "It's not that hard." Alya said.

"but it is!" Adrien muttered, "I mean, look at how many different kinds of cuts there are, princess cut, tiffany cut…"

"Ow!" Nino shouted, making both Adrien and Alya jump, "paper cut." He muttered, sucking his thumb.

Alya rolled his eyes, "you're making it harder than it has to be, just ask them to show us their engagement rings, and look through them, you'll know what's right when you see it."

"I guess…' Adrien sighed.

"Excuse me," an employee asked, addressing Adrien as he walked over, "how might I help you?"

"um yes…can…can I see your engagement rings?" Adrien asked.

The employee quirked an eyebrow, "aren't you…a little young to be getting an engagement ring?"

'you would think right?" Adrien asked with a laugh, scratching the back of his head.

"follow me," he said, walking deeper into the store, Adrien, Alya and Nino following.

"Now," he started, "have you thought about the kind of cut you would like the diamond as?

"uh…" Adrien looked at Alya who gave an amused chuckle, "I'm going to say princess cut." Alya said, "and silver instead of gold."

"of course Mademoiselle," the employee said, "oh, and congratulations to you both."

"what?" Adrien asked in confusion.

"What?" Alya asked.

"oh, are you two not-"

"No! no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no." Alya said, shaking her head, "no."

"wow," Adrien said with a stoic face, "fifteen no's."

"Sorry Adrien, but if Marinette had heard that, we'd all be dead." Alya said, "Plus, Nino's here."

"yeah, I am." Nino said, throwing his arm around her, glaring at Adrien and the employee.

"lets just get to finding you a perfect engagement ring." He said, pulling a tray of silver, tiffany cut, engagement rings.

"oh these are gorgeous!" Alya gushed,

Adrien looked them over, 'no, I'm not too sure…"

"are you kidding bro?" nino asked, "even I'd marry you if you gave me one of these…no homo."

"right," Adrien said, "but…I'm not seeing anything that tells me 'this is the one,'

"perhaps, you may find one in this batch," the employee said, pulling another tray of rings out, this time, they were an ensemble of different hues of gold and silver, along with several different gems, Adrien started to look them over, his eyes stopping on a black ring with several emeralds set into the metal, "this one…" Adrien said.

The employee pulled it out, "black gold, 1 Ct Emerald leaf and vine engagement ring, priced at 2861 euros."

"woah…that's a lot of cheddar…" Alya said, looking at it, "but it's so cute!"

"you sure it's the right one?" Nino asked.

Adrien looked at Nino, then turned to the employee, "can I see the ring please?"

the employee handed it over, then Adrien turned to Nino, "bro, would you marry me?"

Nino, looked away, "yeah, that'd work." He said, scratching his head.

Adrien and Alya laughed, "I'll take it." Adrien said.

"are you sure kid? It is a little pricey."

"I assure you sir, I can handle it." Adrien said, pulling his wallet out and pulling the money out and handing it to the employee, "There's a sixty euro tip in there for you too."

The employee's eyes widened, "w-will you be needing it resized M-Monsieur?"

Adrien looked at Alya, who was looking at the ring size, "it'll be good." Alya said, "she's got pretty slim fingers."

The employee put the ring into a velvet box, then put the velvet box into a plastic bag, handing it off to Adrien, "have a good day Monsieur, thank you for your business!"

Adrien waved to him as the three friends walked outside.

"Man, I can't believe you're going to propose to Mari!" Nino Exclaimed, "you're going to be a dad bro!"

"yeah, I'm going to be a dad!" Adrien said with a smile.

Alya smiled at that.

"a dad…a daddy…a father…"Adrien said, slowing down, his smile falling.

Alya's smile slowly disappeared, "Adrien."

"a father…a father who has no idea how to be a father….a father who barely knows how to be a teen." Adrien sat down, holding his head in his hands, the bag falling to the ground.

"Adrien bro, calm down," nino said, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"I can't be a dad Nino!" Adrien exclaimed, 'I just can't! our kid is screwed if I'm her dad! I wouldn't be able to teach her right from wrong!"

"her?" Alya askd, putting a hand on Adriens knee, "why do you say it's a her?"

"that's just what I picture when I think of our child." Adrien muttered, "a little baby girl with Marinette's raven hair and cute little button nose, and my green eyes."

Alya smiled, "Adrien, I'm going to tell you this now, you're going to be a great dad." She said, "you know how I know?"

"how?" he asked, looking at her with scared eyes.

"because instead of saying, "that child,' or 'her child' you called her, 'our child.' As in yours and Mari's."

"just because I think of this child as ours, doesn't mean that I'm going to be a good father." He mumbled.

"yes it does," Alya insisted. "because you're subconsciously telling yourself that you're ready, you and Mari, you guys will be a team, you both will take care of this child, and you both will learn how to be parents, you're also not alone, me and Nino will be there, not to mention Mari's parents."

He took a deep breath, "I'm scared…" he whispered after a little while.

"dude, anyone would be in your position." Nino said, "and that's alright, you got us, ya know?"

Adrien nodded slightly.

"good, now, lets get you home."

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"Alya, you're not making any sense, we're just trying to get to know each other, why would I have to dress up?"

Alya crossed her arms, she was sitting across from Marinette in her room, attempting to convince her that she needed to get a good outfit together for her 'date' on Friday, "girl, it's Adrien, and he already told you what's going through his mind, he likes you girl!"

"how do I know he's not just saying that because I'm knocked up?" Marinette asked, 'not like he showed any interest in me before."

"that's because he's a dense idiot." Alya said, "I mean, come on, you literally threw yourself naked at him, and he still didn't get it, it took a conversation with Nino for him to figure it out, Nino!"

Marinette giggled, "I…guess you're right…but still."

"listen, I know this all is confusing for you, but I promise, you won't regret dressing up."

Marinette sighed, "okay…but what could I wear? I know it may not look it, but my clothes don't fit as well as they used to."

"really?" Alya asked, "you're not showing yet…right?"

"I'm not noticeably showing…I just…I'm feeling really pudgy now…and my jeans are getting snug."

Alya started to laugh, making Marinette blush, "it's not funny!" she pouted.

"I know, I know," Alya laughed. "it's just…I got a mental picture of you all preggers and…I giggled…'

Marinette rolled her eyes, "I'm not to that point yet." She said, putting a hand on her stomach, "I'm still at least another couple of weeks away from having everyone questioning why I suddenly started gaining weight." She groaned, "Chloe is going to have a field day."

"she's going to die if she comments on it," Alya said, "and she's probably going to die when she finds out that Adrien is the father."

"that or she's going to try and kill me."

"again, she tries, I end her." Alya stood up, "welp, I gotta get home girl, but if you need help putting together an outfit, call me, and I can get the girls together, alright?"

Marinette smiled and nodded, "I'll see you tomorrow Alya." She said, watching as Alya climbed down the stairs, Tikki flew out of her hiding spot, floating over and landing on her stomach, hugging it.

"I can't wait to play with the baby!" Tikki exclaimed, "she's going to be so cute!"

"she? You know she's a she!?" Marinette asked frantically.

"well, I'm guessing right now, but wouldn't she be sooo cute!"

Marinette let out a sigh of relief, "yeah, she would be." She mused, "all dressed up in clothes that I've made for her, playing with Adrien…" she sighed, "playing with Adrien whenever he comes to visit."

"marinette, you still don't think that boy won't try and be with you after all of this?" Tikki asked, "he practically confessed to you!"

"but what if he gets scared? What if he decides I'm not worth standing beside when things get tough…I know he's not that kind of guy, but I just can't help but get scared over that…" Marinette looked at Tikki, "and what happens when you're no longer around? I mean…I can't be Ladybug with things like this."

"oh Marinette, you won't lose your miraculous for getting pregnant!" Tikki scolded lightly, "I'll just have to take over during that time."

"w-what?" Marinette asked in confusion.

"During times of particular stress, such as pregnancy, I can take over for limited amounts of time," tikki said, still sitting on Marinette's stomach, "mostly to purify any Akuma's that come along, it only lasts for maybe thirty minutes, and I won't be able to do much of anything for hours afterwards, but it's good enough."

"you mean you have a form other then this?" Marinette asked.

"yes, technically I can turn into a human form at anytime, but it's drastically different from a human, and people would be able to tell I'm not actually human, not to mention the time constraints like i mentioned before, it also takes a lot of energy from you, not enough to harm your baby, but enough to where it'll make you feel as tired as me."

Marinette nodded slowly, "but…if there's an Akuma attack, and you can only change for thirty minutes, then who's going to help Chat Noir?"

"I'm sure Master Fu will awaken another set of Miraculous' so that Chat doesn't get overwhelmed, but you will still continue to be ladybug."

Marinette sighed in relief.

"Speaking of Chat Noir." Tikki started.

"oh no…"

"I think it's time for you two to finally reveal yourselves!"

"b-b-b-but you said w-we couldn't know each others identities!" Marinette stuttered, "you said it'd be too dangerous."

"well, he needs to know about your situation, and I'm sure he'll connect the dots If you just tell him in person that you're pregnant."

"I…i…what if he's disappointed with who I am?"

"oh Marinette, do you really think that Chat would do that? The boys been in love with you for years!"

"exactly!" Marinette exclaimed, "he's been making me out to be this unstoppable, confident hero, when really I'm just…clumsy, awkward Marinette."

"I'm sure he'll like you for who you are." Tikki said, "besides, it isn't up for debate, I'm contacting Plagg tonight, and we'll set up a meeting between you two."

"I…okay…"

Tikki smiled and flew up into the air, "let me contact Plagg!" she squealed with schoolgirl excitement.

Marinette gave a Cheshire grin, "and what is Plagg to you Tikki?" marinette asked slyly.

"he's my..ah…" Tikki thought about it, "well…he's like my soulmate."

'aw, that's so sweet."

"you say that now," Tikki said wrinkling her nose like she just smelled something back, "Just wait until you see all the camembert he eats."

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Adrien walked into the Agreste Mansion, looking at Gorilla weirdly as he saw the gigantic man carefully knitting with a pair of needles that looked miniscule in his giant hand. 'ah…Ian, what are you making?" Adrien asked curiously.

"Surprise." He said, quickly hiding his work behind him, "what is in hand?" he asked, looking at the bag Adrien carried, he had been curious about it when he came to pick Adrien up, and was glad that he could use it as a change of conversation.

"ah…don't tell Natalie or my dad yet." Adrien said quietly to him, he nodded.

"Secrets are safe with me," he said.

Adrien smiled and pulled a small velvet box out, he opened it and Ian's eyes widened.

"you…propose, to the girl?"

"not yet," Adrien said, scratching the back of his head as he put the box up, "I'm planning on doing it this Friday."

Ian nodded, "with ring like that, she will say yes." He said, "when will you tell others?"

"tonight," he said with confidence, "father wants to have a dinner with me, and I'll just show him the ring and tell him that I'm goin through with it whether he likes it or not."

"Hmm…little kitten has grown heart of lion." Ian said, pulling out the knitting needles again, "hope Mr. Agreste doesn't skin you when he finds out."

Adrien blanched at that, "i-I'm sure he won't…see you later Ian, good luck with…whatever it is you're making."

Ian waved him off, smiling to himself.

"Sheesh, that guy's gotten weird since he found out," Plagg said, flying out of Adriens pocket as soon as they got to his room.

"I think he's happy about the thought of a little baby running around." Adrien said, plopping onto his bed, "he seems like the kind of guy that loves kids."

"yeah, yeah, so let me see the ring!" Plagg said, phasing through the bag and flying back out carrying the velvet box.

"hey! Plagg!"

"I just want to see it," Plagg said, landing on the coffee table and flipping open the box, "Whoa! You even chose my colors! Niiiice."

"it just made sense to me to get it." Adrien said, closing the velvet box and pocketing it, "I'm sure she'd love it."

"oh she will, I promise kid, after all, what girl doesn't like jewelry." Plagg said, flying into the air, "boy, it's been forever since one of my kittens had one of their own, I'm starting to feel giddy."

'really?"

"yeah," plagg said, landing on a table that held Camembert, "usually the miraculous wasn't needed after so long, I never got a chance to see any of them settle down, but now-" he stopped as the whisker on top of his head went riggid, "no way…" he whispered, he shot into the air once more, swirling and spinning and doing loop-de-loops, "No way, no way, no way!" he exclaimed giddily, "she contacted me! she contacted me!"

"Plagg! Calm down!" Adrien shouted, catching the Kwami a second before he could slam into the wall, "Plagg, what's going on!"

"Tikki!" Plagg cried, flying out of Adriens hand, holding his head between his hands.

"Tikki? Who's Tikki?"

"Shut up kid, not talking to you." Plagg said, "No, not you Tikki, I'm talking to you."

Adrien looked confused as the Kwami floated around in the air, seemingly pacing back in forth.

"mhmm…she wants to? Really? but you said…really?! well what's wrong with her…okay, okay, stop yelling, okay…I'll let the kid know…what? NO WAY! Wayzz is going to freak! I know, I know! Who do you think he'll get paired up with this time?...nah, last time those two got together, they almost destroyed Rome…okay…alright, I'll let him know, see you soon…and Tikki!" Plagg paused in his pacing, "I…i…I miss you…okay, I'll see you soon!" Plagg turned around and zoomed right into the bed, "Yes!" he whooped, "oh yes, yes, yes!"

"Plagg!" Adrien shouted, making the Kwami stop his celebrations, "What's. going. On!?"

Tikki decided that it's time for you and Ladybug to meet!" Plagg shouted, flying right into Adriens face, "you're finally going to get to meet ladybug kid!"

"I-I am?" Adrien asked in awe.

"Yes! Tikki decided that the meeting will take place Friday night, top of the Eiffel tower." Plagg spun into the air once more, "and I'll get to see her then! I'll get to see Tikki!"

"you sound real excited about that," Adrien said in amusement.

"of course I am!" Plagg exclaimed, looking down at his human counter-part, "she's my morning and evening stars! The Yin to my Yang! My everything!" he flew right back into Adriens face, "I've been apart from her for over six hundred years! And I'll get to see her again!"

Adrien laughed, "I'm happy for you plagg." He said, falling back onto his bed, "and I get to see Milady…out of the mask…"

"yeah," Plagg said, sitting on Adriens knee, "what are you gonna tell her about Marinette?"

Adrien's smile disappeared, "I'll tell her the truth." He said, "i can't be with her, because I have Marinette now."

'and you're sure you're not just gonna propose to Marinette because she's carrying your love child?"

'I'm sure Plagg," Adrien said, sitting back up, "Marinette is truly amazing…it just…took me a while to figure it out."

"but you're still in love with Ladybug, am I right?"

Adrien sighed, "She was my first crush," he said, "not something I'll ever forget, but something that won't hold me back."

"aw, my little kitten has grown up!" Plagg said, pinching his cheek.

"Ah! Stop it Plagg!"

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Gabriel stared at his son while they ate dinner, "are you alright Adrien?"

"huh? Oh, yes father, I'm fine." Adrien said with a smile, "I um…I figured somethings out today…concerning Marinette.'

Gabriel suddenly turned cold, "if you think I will let you leave that girl all on her lonesome-"

"-n-no! nothing like that father!" Adrien said quickly, pulling the velvet box out of his pocket, he stood up and quickly walked over to his father, putting the box infront of him.

Gabriel picked it up and looked inside, "hmm…it's a nice ring." Gabriel said, looking at his son, "you're going to propose to her?"

"yes father…this Friday, I'm going to take her to a nice restaurant, and I'm proposing."

Gabriel nodded slowly, "and if she says no?"

"then I'll still stand beside her." Adrien said firmly.

Gabriel went back to eating. Adrien shifted slightly, before going back to sit down at his plate.

"good luck son," Gabriel said softly, making Adrien look up.

"what was that father?"

"I said goodnight son," he said, standing up and walking out of the room.

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Lila sat at a café just outside of the school, watching as Marinette and Alya talked.

"Stalking someone?" a voice asked, making her jump.

"Jesus!" she exclaimed, glaring at Nathanael as he sat at the table acoss from her, "don't scare me like that."

"Sorry," he said in amusement as he pulled his sketch pad out, "So, why are you spying on Marinette?"

"I'm not spying." She snapped, leaning her elbow against the table and resting her head on her hand, "I just…doesn't she look a little different to you?"

"well of course she' different." He said, starting to sketch, "it's obvious."

"What's obvious?" she asked, looking at him.

He peaked at her from his sketch pad, "you don't know?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"obviously not." She said in annoyance, "what? Does everyone know?"

"well…no…but to an artist, it is." He said, glancing at her again as he started drawing.

Lila sat in silence, glaring at Nathanael, "aren't you going to tell me?" she asked with as much patience as she could muster.

"maybe." Nathanael said, "on one condition."

"and what condition is that?" she asked.

"don't move," he said, "look back across the street like you were."

"are…are you drawing me!?"

"yep," he said nonchalantly, still drawing.

"I…why?"

"you're a good muse," he said, 'you're passion, you're facial expressions, it's just something that I've taken to drawing lately."

Lila quirked a little smile, then looked across the street, "like this?" she asked.

"yeah, just like that, with that same cool, calculating stare and…huh…"

"what?" she asked, darting her eyes to look at the artist.

"well…*cough*…you just um…you look nice when you smile." He said quietly, his cheeks turning red.

Lila's smile widened, a softness creeping into her stare, "thank you." she said, looking back across the street.

"anytime." Nathanael mumbled, hiding a smile behind his sketch pad. After twenty minutes, he looked up once more, "finished," he said, turning the sketch around.

"wow, you are really good." Lila said, looking at the charcoal drawing, it was almost as if someone had taken a picture of her and printed it out, the only way she knew for a fact that he drew it was that she had seen him draw it.

"it was a little rushed," he said, "I don't feel like I captured your personality in it…I need actual paint…" he shook his head, "anyways, want to know why Marinette seems different?"

"what? Oh! Right, yeah."

Nathanael smiled, "you have to promise not to tell anyone." He said.

"I won't." Lila said.

Nathanael raised an eyebrow.

"I won't!" she objected. "cross my heart!"

Nathanael looked around, then sighed, "Marinette is pregnant." He whispered.

"WHAT!" She shouted, making Nathanael jumped up.

Nathanael shushed her, "calm down.' He said fiercely.

Lila took a deep breath, "okay…okay…" she looked at him ,"how do you know?"

"take a look at her, she's lethargic, always tired, she used to have the energy to run around all day with Alya and Nino, and now she just heads straight home, she also doesn't wear the clothes she used to, no skinny jeans and and blouse's, instead she's wearing very comfortable, elastic waist band sweats, and baggy t-shirts."

'their not that baggy." Lila said, looking at Marinette's shirt.

"it's subtle, a slightly flowy shirt that someone wouldn't really take a second glance at, but considering she wears them almost every day…"

"you're starting to sound like a stalker." Lila said, rolling her eyes.

"I am not a stalker." He said, pulling his sketch pad out, "I sketch and draw almost everyone in our class,the only one I've shied away from drawing has been Chloe, and that's because she rips my art up when she sees it." He handed the sketchbook to her and she started flipping through the pages.

"These are really good!" lila said in surprise, looking at a sketch of Rose and Juleka.

"these are just quick sketches, in between notes." He said nonchalantly, turning the pages until he gets to the ones he drew of marinette, "now, I always make sure that I get as much accuracy as I can when drawing, look at the difference between Marinette four months ago," he showed her the painting, "and Marinette yesterday." He turned a couple of pages.

"hmm…" Lila mumbled, looking at the two paintings, "she's gotten…pudgier."

Nathanael nodded, "she's also got a quick temper now, just the other day she bit Kims head off for chewing his gum too loud."

"wow…so…who's the father?"

"that I don't know," Nathanael said, "but if I had money, I'd put it on Adrien."

"Adrien? Marinette can't even talk to him without getting nervous and tongue tied."

"that's changed lately, hasn't it?"

Lila narrowed her eyes, "you're like some kind of detective, you know that?"

Nathanael shrugged, "just pointing things out." he said, looking back to Marinette. "think she'll tell the class soon?"

"Don't know." Lila mumbled, her eyes had a faraway look in them, "but it's none of their business."

Nathanael nodded, then stood up, "bout time to go to class." He said, "wouldn't want to be late, right?"

She smiled and stood up, "right," she said, "after you, Monsieur artiste."


	4. what did you just say?

"Marinette…"

"Hmm…"

"Marinette, wake up."

"Mmmm….no…'

"Marinette!"

"huh?" Marinette asked as she brought her head up, looking around groggily.

"Girl, you gotta start sleeping more." Alya said from her spot beside the young fashionista.

"I'm sleeping all I can without failing school." Marinette mumbled, rubbing her eyes, "what time is it?"

"12:25, which means lunch break is almost over." Alya said, "which means it's time for us to showcase our painting skills!"

Marinette sighed and stood up, pulling at her jeans uncomfortably, "ran out of sweats…" she mumbled when Alya gave her a weird look.

Alya chuckled, "so, you're really are starting to get a little baby bump, huh?" she asked, patting Marinette's stomach, making her groan.

"I feel fat…" she mumbled.

"and that's not always a bad thing." Adrien said, walking up to the girls and sitting down across from Marinette, "it means the baby's healthy." He said with a smile.

"easy for you to say." She grumbled, "you won't swell to the size of a small melon."

"and if I could, I would, just so you wouldn't have to." Adrien said seriously, putting his hand on top of hers.

Marinette blushed a little, "dork." She mumbled, looking away from him, making Alya chuckle.

"oh man, you two are too much." She said, standing up, "come on Mari, we got art to go to, and lover boy here has his own stuff to take care of as well."

Marinette nodded and stood up, only to be pulled back down by Adrien, who was giving her a stare that Marinette wasn't used to.

"before you go," he started quietly, "I wanted to know if you were ready for tonight?"

Marinette blushed, "I…yes, I'm ready for tonight." She mumbled.

He grinned, "we're gonna have a great time tonight, I promise." He said, giving her a quick peck on the nose before standing and walking away, leaving Marinette sitting at the table, blushing furiously.

"he did not just do that." Alya laughed gleefully, holding her phone up, "oh my god, I can't believe I got that on video!"

"did…did he just…did he…" Marinette tried to get out.

"yes, he did Mari, he just gave you a little kiss on the nose!" she crooned.

Marinette covered her face, "he didn't…he didn't…" she said, shaking her head.

"oh but he did Mari," Alya teased, "he really does like you girl!"

Marinette looked at her, "I just…I'm confused." She said helplessly, making Alya stop laughing and quickly sit down beside her, "first he says he doesn't want a relationship, now he's being so nice, and supportive, and…and…" she let out a groan and laid her head down.

"girl, I've said it before, and I'll say it again, the boy is really dense, he's just barely figuring out his own mixed up feelings, and you know what he figured out?"

"that he's saddled with me?" she mumbled grumpily.

"no! that he really likes you girl!" Alya sighed and patted the top of her head, making Marinette glare at her, "believe me when I say, the guy really does like you."

Marinette sighed, "I hope you're right." She mumbled.

"of course I am, now come on, class starts here in a bit, and I'm pretty sure I got a pair of tights that would fit you, hell of a lot more comfortable then jeans too."

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Adrien walked into his last class of the day, Nino right beside him.

"so, tonight's the night, huh?" Nino asked.

"yup." Adrien said quietly, hoping no one was eavesdropping, "tonight's the night I ask Marinette to Marry me."

"good luck bro, and keep it simple, ordinarily, Marinette would love something over the top, but with her emotions all out of whack, there's no telling whether she'd kiss you, kill you, or do a combination of both."

Adrien laughed nervously. "Let's hope it's a kiss and not a kill." He said as Marinette and Alya walked in, with Marinette now wearing a pair of spandex tights.

"why the wardrobe change?" Nino asked Marinette, making her glare at him, he shrank slightly, "n-never mind." He squeaked out as Marinette walked to her seat, she sat down and almost instantly dropped her head onto the desk, trying to fall asleep.

"first tip," Alya started as she pated Nino's shoulder, "never ask a pregnant girl, or any girl for that matter, why she changed her wardrobe, you ask for death when you do that."

"duly noted." He said as Adrien laughed.

"ADRIKINS!"

"oh dear god." Nino groaned as Chloe ran in, fawning over Adrien.

"oh Adrien," she swooned, "guess who has two tickets to that new action movie you really wanted to see tonight? That's right, moi, and I rented out the entire theatre!"

"Uh…sorry chlo, but I already have plans tonight." He said.

"oh come now, can't you just get your father to cancel your photoshoot or whatever it is your doing tonight?"

"this can't be cancelled," Adrien said, "I'm going to Dinner with Marinette."

"WHAT!" Chloe shrieked, making most everyone in the room wince, and made Marinette wake up.

"Chloe, can you please shut it?" Marinette grumbled, "I'm trying to sleep."

"EXPLAIN!" Chloe snapped, stalking up to Marinette, who narrowed her eyes.

"Well you see, sleep is something I do when I get tired," she said.

"Not that! How did you get a date with my Adrikins!?" she snarled.

Marinette sighed, "I don't have to explain anything to you," she said wearily, laying her head back down.

"yes you do! Because why would Adrien go out with a klutzy, stupid, nobody, when he could go out with me! you even gained some weight! Like, gross."

At the mention of weight, Marinette slowly raised her head up, fire shining in her eyes, 'What?" she growled.

"you're gaining weight!" Chloe exclaimed, "didn't think no one's noticed? You probably picked up some filthy eating habit while living at that rundown excuse for a bakery."

Marinette felt her lip twitch as she tried to calm down, "Chloe," she started icily.

"Mari," Alya said, putting her hand on her friend's shoulder, 'let it go, she's not worth it."

Marinette took a deep breath, "you're right." She said, through gritted teeth.

"What's wrong? Fatty doesn't have a good comeback?" Chloe asked mockingly.

"Chloe stop." Adrien said, standing up, his usual cheerful demeanor was replaced by an angry scowl.

"but Adrien!"

"No buts Chloe! I'm sick of how you treat everyone here! I've tried to be your friend and look over it, but damn it, you keep going too far! Unless you have something nice to say, sit down and shut up!"

"but…but this fatty- "

"who you calling fatty, double-chin?" Lila called from the back of the classroom, making everyone either gasp or laugh.

Chloe turned a deep shade of red and stomped over to her desk, sitting down with an angry huff, her arms crossed.

Marinette breathed a sigh of relief, "thank you," she whispered to Adrien as he slowly sat down.

"No one talks to my princess like that." He said with a familiar grin, making Marinette's heart skip a beat.

"did you just call her your princes?" Alya stage whispered to him, making him turn red.

"I…uh…yeah, so what?" he asked, crossing his arms and facing forward.

Alya just laughed, while Nino patted him on the back.

Marinette smiled at all of them, but felt tears coming to her eyes, "I'll be right back." She mumbled, standing up and walking out of the classroom just as Mme. Bustier walked in.

"uh…Marinette?" she asked in confusion as the girl quickly made her way down the stairs and into the girl's restroom.

"I should-" Adrien started to say, until Alya stood up.

"I'll handle this one," she said, ruffling Adrien's hair, "don't worry your pretty little head."

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Marinette found herself sitting against the wall in the girl's restroom, crying her eyes out as she hugged her legs.

"Mari?" Alya asked, peeking into the girl's bathroom, then coming in fully when she saw her best friend crying, "What's wrong girl?"

"it's nothing," she said tearily, trying to wipe the tears away stubbornly, "Just being emotional."

"oh Mari," Alya said, sitting down next to her and putting her arms around her, "is this because of what Chloe said? Because I'll go back up there and kick-"

"but she's right!" Marinette sobbed, "I am fat, and disgusting! How can Adrien ever like me!?"

"now you hush up!" Alya said sternly, pulling her in closer, "you're not fat Mari, you're pregnant, Adrien knows that, and he's not disgusted by you in anyway."

"are you sure?" she asked, looking at Alya.

"she's sure," Lila said, walking into the bathroom, making Alya glare up at the girl.

"what are you doing here?" Alya asked pointedly, not ready to fully trust her.

"figured Marinette would need a little bit of comfort food." She said, pulling her back pack off her shoulder and pulling out a couple of candy bars, she handed them to Marinette, who looked at them hungrily, tears still slowly leaking out of her eyes, "chocolate always makes a girl feel better." She said lightly as Marinette slowly unwrapped the first chocolate bar.

"thank you." Marinette said quietly.

"don't sweat it," she said, leaning against the wall, "Just calm down and eat your chocolate."

Marinette slowly started to nibble on the chocolate while Alya stood up, glaring at Lila.

"what's your game?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

"no game," she said holding her hands up, "I just thought Marinette needed a little helping hand."

"that's why I'm here." Alya said, crossing her arms.

Lila sighed, "look," she said, "I know she's pregnant, and I know that can be a tough time for a girl, she needs more than one friend, you know?"

"and how do you know anything about this?" Alya questioned, her glare softening slightly.

"I…my…sister was pregnant not too long ago," Lila said, looking away from Alya, "so I witnessed first-hand how stressful it is, from the mood swings to the weight gain, to the swollen feet, stretch marks and sore joints."

"Stretch marks?" Marinette questioned, looking at Lila in horror.'

"Sssssh, eat your chocolate." Alya soothed, handing the other candy bar to her.

Lila rolled her eyes and hid a smile as she walked towards the door, "just focus on getting through the day one step at a time Marinette," Lila recommended, "and if you get sad, eat chocolate, I promise it'll always lift your spirits."

"thanks Lila." Marinette mumbled as she stood up.

"yeah, thanks." Alya said, giving Lila a searching gaze.

"no big." She said, avoiding Alya's stare as she walked out, "I'll let Mme. Bustier know that you're fine."

"that was unexpected." Marinette said, looking down at the half-eaten chocolate bar in her hands.

"yeah…" Alya said, turning to Marinette and putting her hands on her shoulders, "Mari," she said seriously, "you know that Adrien doesn't care about a little weight gain, right?"

"I-I know…I just…I just got emotional okay? Mood swings." She said, trying to play it off.

"Marinette, you're bad at lying." Alya said.

"I swear I understand that Adrien doesn't care about weight gain." Marinette said, "but can you blame me for worrying about it? I gained ten pounds this week! Ten!"

Alya rolled her eyes, "lord help me." she said, "that's normal for a pregnant girl!"

Marinette huffed, "I know," she said in irritation, "I just… I don't like it!"

Alya just laughed and ruffled her hair, "Come on, let's get back to class before lover boy comes running to make sure you're alright."

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Lila sat under a tree, looking up at its bare branches, completely lost in thought as she hugged her knee's to her chest.

"you look troubled." Nathanael said, sitting on a bench across from her, a pencil case full of colored pencils in his hand as he pulled his sketch book out once again.

"not troubled," she mumbled, not looking at him, "just…thinking."

Nathanael hummed as he started drawing, "this have anything to do with Marinette?" he asked, looking at her, her eyes darted towards him, but continued to stare at the branches.

"why would you think that?" she asked.

"well, for one I saw you run out after Marinette when she went to the bathroom." He said, "and I also have a feeling that you're hiding something big."

"and you won't rest until you find out the truth," she said with a soft chuckle.

Nathanael smiled, "I won't pry." He said.

she closed her eyes for a few seconds, "why do you come talk to me?" she asked, "no one else does, not since they found out I was lying about all the things I told them."

Nathanael didn't respond immediately, making Lila think that he didn't hear her question.

"maybe I think you're a good muse." He said quietly, making her look down at him, "maybe I think you're interesting, a mystery," he gave a soft chuckle, "maybe I just like your company."

Lila rolled her eyes, a soft smile coming to her lips as she looked back to the branches, "I found out who got Marinette pregnant."

"oh?" he asked.

"yeah…and you were right, it was Adrien."

Nathanael laughed, "Chloe is going to flip.' He said, making Lila giggle, "but it explains why he's always running out after her."

Lila nodded, looking at Nathanael, "you almost done drawing?" she asked.

He nodded, "I drew you and the tree a while ago," he said, 'I'm just putting the finishing touches on it."

Lila stood up and walked over to him, looking over his shoulder to look at the drawing, unlike the bare branches in real life, he had sketched blossoms blooming on the branches with lila looking up at them in wonder, light was filtering through the branches, putting an almost unearthly glow around her, but beneath her, under the green grass and blooming trees, was what looked like a prison filled with both gaunt humans and demons, who were all also looking up at the bright light with awe. "this is nice," she said, "though I don't think there are any blossoms on this tree in the middle of winter."

He just smiled, "I added a little creative incentive into it," he said, "I was actually planning on adding wings to you."

"wings?" she asked in confusion.

He nodded, "Angel wings," he said, picking up another colored pencil and tracing them out.

"oh, you think I'm an angel?" she asked with a teasing smile, putting her arms across the top of his back and leaning against him, her chin easily resting on his shoulder.

"well um…*Cough*…yes," he said shyly, trying to focus on his drawing.

"well I'm sorry to say, but you're dead wrong." She said, standing up and ruffling his hair, "I'm no angel." She started to walk away.

"I don't think I'm wrong." He said quietly as she walked away, adding more definition to the wings, "I just think you haven't figured it out yet."


	5. will you?

"can I have your permission to marry your daughter?"

Tom and Sabine both stared at Adrien, who was standing in front of them, a determined look in his eyes.

"what?" Tom asked.

"can I have your permission, to marry Marinette." He said, looking Tom dead in the eye.

"you're going to propose to my daughter?" Tom asked.

"yes sir.'

"after you got her pregnant."

"that is correct."

without really knowing her as a person?"

"that's not true, I know her." Adrien said defensively.

"not on a personal level," Sabine said softly, "Adrien, you two are barely friends."

"but I want to get to know her," Adrien said, "I was too dense to realize that she is the girl for me, and now, I have a chance to prove it to her."

Tom glared at the young man, standing up to tower over him, "Do you know what I did before I opened this Bakery son?"

"um…baking school?"

"I served for fifteen years in the Foreign Legion," he said, "do you know what they teach you in the Legion?"

"H-h-h-how to bake?" he stuttered.

"Tom." Sabine warned.

Tom sighed, "Adrien, I want you think carefully about what you're going to say next, why are you really trying to marry my daughter?"

Adrien took a deep breath, "I told you," he said, looking at Tom once again in the eye, "I care for your daughter, I have for months, if not years, and it hasn't been until recently that I came to my senses, she's smart, kind, and beautiful, and I wish I could have seen it months ago, instead of just barely seeing it now; I want to give her everything she could ever need or want, I want to be there to see our child come into this world, and raise her right next to Marinette, no matter how hard it gets, I want to be there for her."

Tom looked at Sabine, then sighed, "yes, you have our permission to marry our daughter."

Adrien grinned, "thank you Mr. Dupain, I promise I'll never hurt her.'

"make sure you don't." Tom said, "I'd hate to have to hunt you down."

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Marinette took a deep breath as she looked at herself in the mirror. Her hair was done in curls, cascading down her shoulders, she wore a black casual maxi that hugged her curves, "are you sure I'm not too fat to be wearing this?" she asked worriedly, looking at Tikki.

"you're fine Marinette, you can't even tell in that dress." Tikki said, but didn't tell her that her baby bump would be easily seen if someone knew to look for it.

"I'm so nervous Tikki." She said as she rung her hands, "what if he decides that he really doesn't like me? or what if he doesn't like how I eat or-" she stopped as Tikki flicked her head softly.

"calm down," Tikki soothed, "just go meet him, with your head held high, okay?"

she took a deep breath and nodded, 'thanks Tikki," she said, opening her black clutch bag and letting Tikki fly into it before descending the stairs a few moments before her mother could call her down,

"Marinette he's-oh my…" she whispered, looking at her daughter, "honey you look positively radiant!"

"thank you Maman." She said nervously," I really look okay?"

"of course dear," She said with a smile, "you're going to knock his socks off, he's just right down stairs in the bakery.

Marinette nodded slightly, "where's Papa?" she asked.

"um…he's gone out with some friends." Sabine said, "he should be home by the time you get back."

"okay…" Marinette said, her shoulders sagging a little.

"now, now, don't worry about your father." Sabine said lightly, putting a hand on her daughters shoulder, "you just focus on having a good time tonight, okay?"

Marinette took a deep breath and smiled, "okay Maman…" she squared her shoulders and walked down the next flight of stairs into the bakery, where Adrien was waiting, he was dressed in a three piece suit, with the vest and tie being a deep green, as she walked down the stairs she stifled a giggle as she watched him nervously fix his tie, his attention completely focused on it, "Nervous Monsieur?" she asked shyly, making him jump.

"oh jeez Marinette you…you…you're beautiful." He said, letting his hands fall to his side as she walked into the bakery.

"thank you," she said softly, "and you look very…handsome."

"I'm nothing special." He said dismissively, scratching the back of his head, "shall I escort you to the car princess?" he asked, making Marinette's heart jump.

"of course." She said, her voice a little high as he gently took her hand and guided her towards the front door.

"you two have fun!" Sabine called to them, "and don't stay out too late!"

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Gabriel sat in his office, looking at his files, "Nooroo." He said quietly.

"yes master?" the Kwami asked, phasing through the wall.

"this business with Adrien…" he started, "and…Marinette…"

"are you referring to their child?" Nooroo asked, flying up to Gabriel's face.

'yes," he said, "what would happen if an Akuma got ahold of Marinette?"

"well, the magic could make her miscarriage, or worse, and…master…please tell me you're not planning- "

"of course not!" he snapped, glaring at Nooroo, "I simply want to make sure there's no harm coming to her should she attract an Akuma, now that I know, I'll make sure that she'll never be infected."

Nooroo let out a sigh of relief, "but you're not going to stop the plan…are you?" he asked dejectedly.

"I can't, not when I'm so close…"

"I hope you know what you're doing master."

"of course I do," Gabriel said dismissively, a knock on the door made Gabriel look back, "hide Nooroo." He said, walking towards the door as Nooroo disappeared into the wall, he opened the door.

"Monsieur Dupain," he said in surprise as he looked at the larger man, who was carrying a brown paper bag, behind him, Nathalie was looking slightly irritated.

"I tried to tell him that you were busy," she said, "he wouldn't take no for an answer."

"it's quite alright Nathalie," he said, looking at Tom, "to what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?"

"well…" Tom started, scratching his head nervously, "I know that our kids are going out tonight on their little date, possibly getting engaged, so I thought, why don't we get to know each other better?"

Gabriel hesitated, but then nodded, "it seems appropriate." He said, "lets retire to my study, Nathalie, you're free to go early today."

"thank you sir," she said, turning around and walking away brusquely.

"now," Tom said as the two men walked down the hall way, "lets pop this bottle open."

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"Thank you for the ride," Marinette said kindly to Ian as he opened the door for her and Adrien. The large man just grunted and shut the door when she got out, "Does he ever talk?" she asked Adrien.

"Not really," Adrien said, "I think I've heard him say fifty words in the last three years, and forty-eight of them were this past week."

"man of few words." She commented as Adrien led them into the restaurant, where the host stood to greet them.

"welcome to Pierre Gagnaire," he said pleasantly, "do you have a reservation?"

"yes sir," Adrien said, "for Agreste?"

"ah yes! We have been waiting all night monsieur," the host said, leading them to a small table towards the back of the restaurant, "would you two like to start off with wine?"

"um, no thank you monsieur." Marinette said, going to pull her chair out, only for Adrien to beat her to it, pulling her chair out and waiting for her.

"thank you," she said softly as she took her seat, Adrien smiled.

"you're welcome…" he whispered back, sitting down across from her.

"would you like to hear the house specials?" the host asked them with a smile.

 **a little while later.**

Marinette covered her mouth as she laughed at Adrien's story, in front of them, their plates were cleared and their glasses held cool water to drink, "your cousin actually did that?" she giggled.

"oh yeah," Adrien said, "freed a goat from the zoo and tried to take it home, didn't work very well."

"gee, I wonder why," she said with a giggle.

He smiled at her, "anyone ever tell you you're really sarcastic?" he asked, leaning back against his chair, smiling in amusement.

"I'm sorry…" she said, suddenly feeling very insecure, "I'm…not usually this…difficult to deal with." She mumbled.

"no need to apologize," he said easily, taking her hand softly into his. "it's a great step-up from you stuttering and mixing up words."

she rolled her eyes and gave him a small smile, "you know I only did that because I was so nervous around you." she said.

"I really made you nervous?" he asked in amusement.

"of course," she said, "you're…you."

Adrien blushed a little, "but you didn't even know me." he said.

"I knew enough," she mumbled, "you were kind, sweet, a little hesitant…even though I thought you were a bit of jerk when I first met you."

he chuckled, "when you accused me of putting gum on your chair?" he asked.

She nodded, trying to hide a blush, "it looked very incriminating when I walked in." she said, brushing a strand of hair out of her face, "I thought you were just like Chloe until the end of the day…when you gave me your umbrella."

"and laughed when it closed on you." he said in amusement.

"I laughed too," she said, rolling her eyes, "that's when…when I fell." She finished, not wanting to say the 'L' word.

He looked at her, then slowly covered her hands with his once more, "Do you know, that the first time I saw you, I was actually a little stunned at how amazing you were?"

Marinette's eyes widened at that, "y-you were?"

he nodded with a smile, "you weren't even hesitant to fix a glare on me and prepare me for a scolding that would've probably had me cowering in the corner." He chuckled, "the way your nostrils flared and your eyes lit up, it was…cute."

Marinette blushed, "you thought I was cute?"

he nodded with a grin, "and the more I got to know you…the more I realized, 'this girl is amazing,' and I kept kicking myself for not getting to know you better, then I fell too, but for someone who wouldn't even give me the time of day, it took me a year to get over that," he looked away from her, "and I'm ashamed to say that I never saw your feelings, if I had, things would be different between us."

"Adrien…" Marinette started, but Adrien held a hand up, making her closer her mouth as he looked up at her.

"and now, I'm seeing new sides of you," he said, "I'm seeing how stubborn and dead-set you can be on things, I'm seeing how you genuinely care for everyone you call a friend, and even people who you don't even know; I see the amazing, confident woman who somehow mesmerized me, and made me make a split second decision that has lead us here," he slowly got out of his chair and knelt down in front of Marinette, determination in his eyes, "I know you'll say its sudden…" he started, slowly reaching into his pocket and making Marinette cover her mouth, "and I know you'll think I'm only doing this because of our situation, but please believe me that I…I can't see myself spending my life with anyone else…Marinette Dupain-cheng." He pulled the velvet box out and opened it, "will you marry me?"

Marinette felt her heart jump, "A-Adrien…I…I don't know what to say…" she whispered.

'Say yes," he said, "Say yes and I promise I'll spend the rest of my life trying to make you happy, I'll do anything for you, just name it."

Marinette closed her eyes and put her hands on top of the box, "you'll stand by me?" she asked softly, "you'll be right by me through all my anxiety and doubts?"

"i'll be there with all the support I can give." He confirmed.

"through all the restless nights that will be coming when we have to take care of this child?"

"sleep is overrated anyways."

"even when I'm old and gray?"

"I'll race you down the halls of the old folks' home."

"what about when some other woman comes along, prettier than me?"

"no one, and I mean no one, can hold a candle to you," he said, no doubt or hesitation in his voice.

Marinette slowly opened her eyes, a tear slowly trailing down her cheek, "then yes," she whispered, "yes I'll marry you."

Adrien grinned and carefully pulled the ring out of the box and placed it on her finger, then kissed her hand, "mon amour," he said.

Marinette giggled as she slowly stood up, Adrien followed her movements and put his arms around her, gently kissing her as she put a hand on his chest.

Applause made them break their kiss and look around, most of the restaurant had watched the proposal, with many onlookers recording it on their phones.

Marinette blushed deeply as Adrien quickly stood in front of her, 'Check please," he called to the waiter.

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Tom and Gabriel laughed as the poured themselves yet another glass.

"So there I was, holding a now empty bucket of water, and staring at the most pissed off drill sergeant I have ever seen." Tom chortled, "and my battle buddy is right behind me, laughing his ass off with the rest of the squad; the sergeant walked up to me and said, 'what the hell do you think you're doing Dupain?"

"and what did you say?" Gabriel asked with an amused smile.

"I said, 'good sir, I thought you were thirsty so I got you a glass of water!'"

the two men started to laugh, "I have to say," Tom struggled out between his chuckles, "I've never ran more, then I did that night."

Gabriel laughed, "I never knew you were in the legion," he said, "how long did you serve?"

"fifteen years," he said, "Somalia, Afghanistan, ivory coast, Gulf war…and yourself?"

Gabriel shook his head, "I only saw action in the Gulf War, was also part of the relief effort in the republic of Congo."

Tom nodded, "I hear the relief effort wasn't too calm."

"you heard right," Gabriel said, "we were attacked a couple of times, got shot in the shoulder myself."

Tom grimaced, "Getting shot is never pleasant." He said, "I've been tagged more times then I'd like, nothing too severe, but nothing to sneeze at either."

Gabriel just smiled, "I was exceptionally glad for the wound," he said, "it's because of it that I got to meet my wife."

Tom's smile disappeared, "whatever happened to her?"

Gabriel hesitated, "she…she got cancer," he said, "fought it for years…but in the end, there was nothing we could do."

"my condolences," Tom said, putting a hand on Gabriel's shoulder.

"thank you," Gabriel said solemnly, "It's been hard on both me and Adrien…but we've persevered."

Tom nodded, "he's a good young man…" he mumbled, "and…I may not be as enthusiastic when it comes to him and my daughter at the moment…but I'm glad that it's Adrien, and not some stranger."

Gabriel smiled softly, "I have met Marinette on a number of occasions, and she really is an amazing girl, I believe they'll be happy together."

Tom smiled, pouring another cup of whiskey for both of them, "let's have a toast." He said, "to hoping that our children can make life work."

"I'll drink to that." Gabriel said, clinking his glass with Tom's and drinking the amber liquid.

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Marinette let out a sigh as she finally got into her room, collapsing on her chaise; after she and Adrien had left the restaurant, he had walked her into her home, where her mother had been giddily waiting, practically squealing when she found out her daughter had said yes, going a mile a minute as she started talking about weddings, dresses, cakes and spots to have it all, it had taken an hour for Adrien to excuse himself, giving her a sweet kiss and walking out to the waiting Gorilla, while Marinette had to spend another hour listening to her mother talk about the plans and asking her several questions that she couldn't answer.

"I may have to reject Adrien's proposal just so I don't have to listen to my mother gush." Marinette mumbled as she took her heels off.

"oh don't be so dramatic Marinette," Tikki said, flying towards her hand, "now let's see that ring!"

Marinette rolled her eyes and lifted her hand.

"wow! It's so pretty!"

"I know," Marinette said, looking down at the ring, "I'm going to get married Tikki!" she squealed.

"about time you're happy about all of this!" Tikki teased, "you've been all gloom and doom since you found out!"

Marinette slowly put a hand to her stomach, feeling the small bump that was forming, "maybe…I'm starting to feel a little hopeful about the future," she mumbled, "I mean…Adrien proposed to me…he's going to marry me…we're going to raise a child together…"

"And you're going to meet Chat Noir tonight! I'll get to see Plagg!" She squealed.

Marinette's smile disappeared, "I'm meeting chat noir tonight…" she said anxiously, slowly standing up, "What am I going to say to him? How am I going to explain this?"

'I'm sure he'll figure it out quickly once you say 'I'm pregnant'." Tikki giggled.

Marinette sighed, "he's been my partner for so long…what will he say? What will he do?"

"he'll support you Marinette, now get ready, you're meeting him in an hour!"


	6. reveal

Chat paced atop the Eiffel tower, wringing his hands nervously as he waited for Ladybug to get there, "hey Ladybug," he practiced, "big day huh? Revealing our identities, and I just got engaged to the girl I got pregnant; how did your day go?" he shook his head, "No, no, that won't work…" he stopped and leaned against the railing, "so My Lady, fancy meeting you here…no…" he stood up straight and started pacing, then leaned against the railing again, "ya like jazz?" he groaned and hit his head against the railing, "damn it how am I going to explain this?"

"Explain what?" a familiar voice asked, making Chat jump, he turned around and found Ladybug standing behind him, looking slightly out of breath.

"Ladybug!" he said, "I-I didn't think you were going to get here so soon…are you alright?"

"fine…just fine…" she huffed out, leaning against the railing, "that usually doesn't tire me out…" she stood up straight and took a deep breath, "so…big day, huh?"

"Yeah," he chuckled nervously, scratching his head, "so um…how do we do this? just…drop our transformation?"

"that would be ideal." Ladybug deadpanned, "but…I'm still nervous…I mean…it's been so long since…you know…"

he nodded, "how about we close our eyes and detransform, and we'll only open our eyes when we're ready? How does that sound?"

"sounds like a plan." She said with a small smile, "on three…"

"one."

"two."

"three."

together they dropped their transformations and closed their eyes, almost immediately they heard an excited shriek.

"TIKKI!"

"PLAGG!"

"sounds like someone's happy." Adrien said, making Marinette giggle.

"Tikki's been very excited about this whole thing…" she mumbled.

Adrien nodded, "so has Plagg," he took a step forward, "Ladybug…before we get a peek at who we really are…I want…I want to let you know that…well, I got engaged today."

"You did?" she asked in surprise.

"yes, and she's a sweet, smart, beautiful girl," he said, "and I'll admit…I never expected to fall for her, but she's just got this way about her…"

"who is she?" she asked, feeling a small, sad smile play on her lips, "who's the girl who captured the heart of Chat Noir?"

"Her name is Marinette…Marinette Dupain-Cheng."

Marinette stiffened at that, _there's no way…I can't be that lucky…_ "Adrien?" she asked hesitantly as she slowly opened her eyes, and sure enough, Adrien Agreste was standing in front of her, his eyes shut tightly, he was still in the suit he had worn to their date, with the vest unbuttoned and the tie undone, at the sound of his name he opened his eyes.

"Marinette…" he said in surprise, 'you're…you're ladybug?"

she nodded numbly.

Adrien looked out across Paris, then back to her, he quickly took two strides towards her and gave her a tender kiss, which she returned feverishly, "I can't believe it," Adrien mumbled through the kiss, "I can't believe it, I can't believe it."

Marinette giggled slightly, "believe it Chaton," she whispered against his lips.

He broke the kiss and looked down at her, "my first crush and the girl I fell in love with…are one in the same…"

Marinette was at a loss for words, she only pulled him down to kiss him once more.

The kiss was soon interrupted by a cackling laugh.

"Plagg!" Tikki complained.

"S-sorry, it's just so hilarious!" Plagg exclaimed, still laughing as Marinette and Adrien glared at him, "I-I mean, they've been sitting next to each other for three years! AND THEY HAD NO CLUE!" he broke into even louder laughter as he fell back, Tikki giggling alongside him.

"it is pretty funny." She confessed.

Marinette rolled her eyes, "So, that's Plagg huh?" she asked, looking at the small deity.

"yep, the one and only." Plagg said, flying up to Marinette, "Don't let my sheer awesomeness overwhelm you."

Marinette giggled, "he's so cute." She said to Adrien.

"Cute?" Adrien asked in confusion.

"Cute?" Tikki asked with an amused smile.

"CUTE!?" Plagg asked in offence, "CUTE!? I am NOT cute! I am the embodiment of bad luck and destruction! I'm!" he stopped as Marinette started scratching the top of his head, right behind one of his ears, making him purr throatily, before stopping and batting her hand away, "get off me! I am not cute!"

Tikki rolled her eyes, "Plagg, calm down," she said, flying up to him.

"but Tikki!" Plagg whined, "she called me cute! I'm not cute!"

"of course you're not Plagg." Tikki soothed him, "you're scary and tough."

"yeah! She just doesn't know!" he pointed at Marinette with a glare, "you don't know!"

Adrien finally started laughing, "so Tikki," he started, "are you going to get mad if I call you cute?" he asked.

"not at all." She giggled, flying around the two, "I take it as a compliment." She flew back to Plagg and wrapped him up in a hug, "and I'm so happy to see you again you stupid tomcat!"

Plagg purred deeply, "and I'm happy to see you too, my moon and stars." He mumbled.

"aww." Marinette gushed, making Plagg glare at her.

Adrien put his arms around Marinette, intertwining his hands with hers, Marinette blushed but leaned back against him.

"my fiancée." He whispered as he kissed her cheek, "milady.'

"Chaton." She mumbled, turning her head towards his, "how is it, that the sweetest, most kind hearted boy I know, is also the boy who is a constant flirt who likes bad puns?"

Adrien chuckled softly, "excuse me Purrincess?" he asked, making her groan slightly. "but I'm Pawsitively a paw'lled that mew don't like puns!"

"is it too late to turn down the proposal?" she asked, making Plagg laugh.

"way too late," Adrien said, "my dad's already heard the news, and besides, even if you did reject me, I'd still be by your side, through thick and thin."

Marinette smiled.

"before you two get too lovey-dovey." Plagg interrupted, "we do need to talk to you both."

"yes," Tikki said, flying in front of the couple, "Marinette's pregnancy will get in the way of fighting Akuma's, within a few weeks she won't even be able to transform without hurting herself or the unborn child."

Marinette's hand went to her stomach protectively as she said this.

"So what do we do? What does this mean?" Adrien asked, "will she not be ladybug anymore?"

"she'll still be ladybug." Tikki said, "but that means that I'll have to pick up the slack."

"the slack? How?" Adrien asked.

"in really certain situations," Plagg started, flying up to his chosen, "like someone's' about to die, or pregnancy, we Kwami can take the form of humans."

"what?"

"It's a very dangerous procedure," Tikki said, "and it drains a lot of our power and that of our chosen's, but for thirty minutes, I'd be able to transform to perform the miraculous cleanse on the city and to purify Akuma's."

"but if it drains Marinette's strength too, then wouldn't that be bad for the baby?" Adrien asked in concern.

"only a little bit," Tikki said gently, "she'll be tired, more tired than usual, but I'll be getting the full brunt of the power drain."

"and only when she needs to," Plagg said, making Tikki look at him in confusion, 'you're not the only one who can purify Akuma's you know." Plagg said in a matter of fact tone.

"true" Tikki started slowly, 'but there's no guarantee that Fu will even give up Wayzz so he can choose another."

"who's Fu?" Adrien asked.

"he's the great guardian of the miraculous." Tikki said, "and he's a miraculous wielder himself, but I doubt he even knows she's pregnant."

"then we'll go see him!" Plagg said, puffing his chest out, "better to cleanse the Akuma's with Wayzz then potentially harming you and the baby."

Tikki sighed, "that is the best course of action at the moment." She conceded.

Adrien smiled, "so when do we do it?" he asked.

"not tonight," Marinette said with a yawn, "all of this has really drained me…"

Adrien smiled and kissed the top of her head, "then let's get you home. Plagg, Claws out."

The Cat let out a whine of protest as he was sucked into the ring, in a flash of green Adrien was transformed into Chat Noir, and without a second thought, he scooped Marinette up in his arms.

"I can transform too you know," Marinette muttered.

"yeah, but why tire yourself out?" he asked, extending his baton as Tikki hid in his hair, soon they were vaulting across the Parisian sky-line, with Marinette holding onto Chat as he laughed. Soon they were on her balcony, where chat gently deposited her on one of the chairs, "welcome home Milady.' He said with a grin.

Marinette smiled at him, "thank you Chat." She said.

He gave her a kiss and stood up straight, "sorry I can't stay, but this cat has to high-tail it out of here."

Marinette groaned, 'no more puns!" she shouted as he vaulted away.

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Plagg looked at his chosen as his breathing evened out, it had taken the boy hours to calm down and go to sleep, and even longer for his father to stumble to his room. With a deep breath, Plagg flew out of the window, going straight towards the Eiffel tower off in the distance, flying at a speed akin to a bullet. Soon he was back on the top level.

"Tikki?" Plagg whispered as he landed, as he landed he started to grow, his limbs growing longer as his fur went away, soon, a shaggy haired teen stood where the small Kwami had once been, he was tall and lean and had a pair of cat ears on top of his head, which flicked slightly as he looked around, he wore an old pair of overalls, with one suspender unfastened, no shirt or shoes, a tail also moved lazily behind him as his glowing green eyes looked around for his one true love.

"over here," a dainty voice said, making Plagg's ears perk up as he turned around.

"Tikki…" he breathed as he got a look at the Goddess, dressed in a red and black flapper dress, her dark red hair was long and reached halfway down her back, black spots dotting it, and peeking out of her locks were two antennae.

"oh Plagg…" she whispered as he put his arms around her and kissed her.

"when was the last time we saw each other like this?" he asked her softly as he tenderly kissed her over and over.

"not since the fall of Paris almost a hundred years ago," She mumbled against his lips.

"time really does pass, doesn't it?" He asked as his tail wrapped around the two, "are you sure this won't affect them?"

"we're not fighting," she said, "we're only visiting, we should have a couple of hours at the very least."

"not nearly enough time." He whispered, kissing her again.

She giggled, "in a minute," she said, "we need to talk about the situation we're in at the moment.

"well, we're standing on the Eiffel Tower, in the middle of the city of love, and you're not letting me kiss you." Plagg said, "that seems to be the situation so far.'

She rolled her eyes and pulled away from him, "I'm talking about Marinette's predicament."

"she's pregnant,' Plagg said, "We've dealt with this before."

"things are different now Plagg," she mumbled, turning towards the railing, "her and Adrien chat run off and elope, and you know as well as I do that this child is going to be strong."

"so what? We'll be there," Plagg said, "we'll be able to teach the child everything it needs to know."

she sighed, "do you really think Fu will awaken more miraculous?" he asked.

Plagg nodded, "he has no other choice, he can't risk both you and Marinette getting hurt."

Tikki sighed, "if Trixx comes out, we'll never here the end of it."

Plagg just snickered, "don't worry about that, just worry about what you'll be doing when that little baby starts trying to grab you."

Tikki giggled, "I'm actually looking forward to seeing a little baby unite our chosen once more."

"he pulls on my tail, I'm not responsible for what happens."

"oh shush," Tikki chastised him, "you know you'll love the little one with all your heart."

Plagg smiled and wrapped his arms around her once more, "Just as I love you with all my heart."

Tikki sighed and leaned back against him, "I missed you so much." She whispered.

"I missed you too…my moon and stars…"

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Marinette woke up to Alya squealing in joy. "he did it! He proposed!" she shouted, making Marinette almost fall out of her bed.

"Alya?" she asked groggily, looking at her best friend, "what are you doing here?"

"I was going to come last night, but I decided that wasn't the best call since you would've probably been preoccupied." Alya looked at her engagement ring. "god it's still the best looking ring ever!"

she slowly sat up, "you were in on it the whole time?" Marinette asked with a raised eyebrow.

"yeah, I helped him choose the ring, god you should have seen his eyes light up when he saw it! It was like it was calling to him!"

Marinette smiled, holding her hand out, Alya quickly put the ring into her hand, Marinette studied the ring once more, "I'm going to get married…" She whispered.

"yep!" Alya said, "and girl, if you guys don't have a huge wedding, I'm going to be very disappointed."

Marinette laughed, "I don't know about that…" she said.

"either it's going to be big, or everyone who saw those videos last night are going to be very pissed off."

Marinette froze, "what…what videos?"

Alya looked at her, "the ones of…oh you don't know…" Alya hesitated, then pulled her phone out, typing rapidly, 'Now don't freak out when you see this, okay?"

Marinette took a deep breath and took the phone from Alya, pressing play on the video she had pulled up.

 _"I-I can't see myself spending my life with anyone else."_

"oh god…" Marinette groaned, looking down, "how many views has this gotten?"

"um…not much…only eight million as of an hour ago…"

"eight…million?" she asked, her eyes widening.

Alya laughed nervously, "Yeah…Rose was gushing about it for most of the night, of course Alix and Kim called and asked if it was a prank…"

"I was hoping to keep all of this under wraps for at least a little while." Marinette sighed.

"you should've known better than that." Alya said with an eye-roll, "nothing stays a secret around here."

Marinette climbed out of her bed and walked over to her closet, "has…Chloe said anything?"

"hmm…no, the spoiled brat hasn't said anything, which is weird, usually she-" Alya stopped as the trap door opened and Sabine peaked her head in, "Marinette, one of your school friends is downstairs, and she seems very agitated…"

"MARINETTE DUPAIN-CHENG! GET DOWN HERE NOW!" Chloe screamed from downstairs, making Sabine wince.

"she's refusing to leave." Sabine said helplessly.'

"speak of the devil," Alya said as Marinette groaned and finished getting dressed.

"I'll be down in a second Maman." Marinette said.

"Ready to handle the queen bitch?" ALya asked as her mother went back downstairs.

"No, lets go."


	7. the next day

Marinette walked into the bakery to be greeted by a very angry blonde.

"MARINETTE DUPAIN-CHENG!" she screamed shrilly, "YOU HAVE A LOT OF EXPLAINING TO DO!"

"Chloe! Not so loud, sheesh it's barely even eight in the morning." Marinette grumbled, crossing her arms as Alya walked up to them, "what do you want?"

"what do I want?" She snarled, "don't act like you don't know! What are you doing, on this video, getting proposed to by Adrien, MY ADRIEN!"

"he's not an object that you own," Marinette said, "and you two were never dating! He's free to see whoever he wants."

Chloe narrowed her eyes at Marinette, "what are you blackmailing him with?" she growled.

"I'm not you Chloe, I don't blackmail people with anything." Marinette said, "how hard is it for you two believe that me and him just genuinely like each other?"

"Very," she snapped, "you're plain, klutzy nobody who's name isn't even worth remembering! Why would he ever fall for you when he can fall for me, beautiful, regal mayors daughter!?"

"because you're a bitch." Alya said from beside Marinette.

"Stay out of this Cesaire!" chloe said.

"No," Alya said, walking towards Chloe, "you've been a vindictive bitch ever since I met you, you can't even be happy for others, just nothing but plain, nasty, evil! I will not let you shit on this beautiful time for Marinette and Adrien." As she spoke she drove Chloe back to the door, her words and demeanor actually scaring the other girl, "I won't threaten to post this conversation online, even though I could do it in a blink, no, instead, I'll give you a promise, you try to step in between Adrien and Marinette, you try to start up false rumors, you try to make Marinette's life any harder than it already is, then I will personally hunt you down, and kick your ass, and your daddy wont' be able to save you from the down home ass whoopin' that I will be delivering, nod if you understand."

Chloe nodded numbly, before quickly running away.

Alya smiled and turned around to Marinette, who had watched the confrontation with wide eyes, "that…was awesome." She whispered.

"Certified best friend here." Alya said smugly, throwing an arm around her best friend's shoulders, "I'll take a baseball bat to someone's knee's for you."

Marinette smiled, wiping away a small tear.

"I get the feeling that we're going to be seeing a lot of friends today." Alya said as they started walking up the stairs.

"it's going to be a long day…isn't it?" Marinette asked as her phone beeped, she pulled it out and found several texts from almost all of her friends, most of them stating that they would be going by the bakery soon. "it is." She groaned.

"I'm sure they just want to see you." Alya said, "and congratulate you."

"I know…I just don't think I can handle Rose squealing today."

Alya laughed, "well, you better prepare yourself, Alix just texted me and said the girls are headed over."

Marinette groaned slightly, "let's go get ready."

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Gabriel woke up with a pounding head-ache, "ugh…" he muttered, sitting up slightly.

"Monsieur Agreste?" Natalie called from his door, "are you up sir?"

"yes Natalie," Gabriel grumbled, slowly getting out of bed, "what's on the agenda today?"

"more meetings with the board today, the Mayor would like to have lunch with you today, and Madam Cheng called wondering if you would like to get together with her and Monsieur Dupain and discuss the engagement."

Gabriel scratched his head, "tell the mayor that I am far too busy to have lunch with him today, and try and schedule a lunch with him within this week, and tell Madam Cheng that I would be delighted to speak with her about the engagement."

"yes sir, your first meeting is in an hour." And with that, Natalie turned around and started to walk away.

"and Natalie." Gabriel called, making her stop in her tracks.

"yes sir?" she asked.

"you will be accompanying me to the meeting with Madam Cheng and her husband," he said.

"sir?" she asked in surprised.

Gabriel walked out of the room, now completely changed in his usual business suit.

"is there a problem Natalie?" he asked her.

"N-not at all sir, no." she said, tapping away on her iPad, "I'll get everything prepared."

"thank you Natalie." He said, walking towards his office, "Is Adrien awake?"

"yes sir, he just left to drop by the bakery." She said, "I believe he wanted to go see his betrothed."

Gabriel nodded, "be sure to remind him that he has a photo shoot this afternoon."

"yes sir."

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"I can't believe you're getting married!" Rose squealed, making Marinette wince slightly.

"yeah, it's amazing." Juleka said with a slight smile, "when's the wedding going to be?"

"um…we haven't exactly talked about it." Marinette said, "I mean, he just proposed last night, so I don't know…maybe in the summer? After graduation…or after…"

'after what?" Alix asked, the pink haired girl was sitting on Marinette's bed, leaning against the wall as she threw a tennis ball at the adjacent wall.

"Well…" she looked at Alya, who nodded encouragingly, "I um…I recently found out that i…well, I'm pregnant."

Alix looked at her in surprise, "What?"

"No way." Mylene whispered.

'You're pregnant!?" Rose gushed.

"you're kidding." Juleka said, her eye widening slightly.

"not kidding," Alya said, "I was there when they found out, god it was angsty."

Alix laughed, "with those two, I believe it." She grunted as she jumped off Marinette's bed, "I gotta go, congrats Marinette."

"We gotta go too," Rose said, standing up, "me and Juleka are going to go meet Ali, see you at school Marinette! Bye Alya!"

the two waved them off, then looked at Mylene, who was still looking at Marinette with surprise.

"pregnant…' Mylene whispered.

"yeah," Marinette said with a nervous chuckle.

"Pregnant…" she said again.

"yeah," Alya said cautiously.

Mylene stood up and walked up to Marinette, carefully putting her hand on Marinette's stomach, "you're pregnant…" she said softly.

Marinette giggled, "yeah."

"oh my god," Mylene said, her eyes widening, "you have to let me and Ivan babysit!"

"you're going to have to fight Alya for that." Marinette said in amusement.

"oh yeah, I'm the baby's aunt and godmother." Alya said, "I get to babysit."

"godmother?" Marinette asked.

"Sssssh, let it happen."

Mylene laughed, "I have to go, but congratulations Marinette."

"thanks Mylene," she said, watching the other girl leave.

"So," Alya said, jumping up, "I've got a date, but when it's over, I'm totally gonna come over."

"uh…why?"

"So we can start planning girl!" Alya said excitedly, "put together the Wedding of the Year!"

"Alya, it's probably going to be a small event, nothing to even sniff at."

"uh girl…the entire schools going to want to go to it." Alya said, "and if I know anything about Adrien's life, it's gonna be covered by a lot of people."

Marinette groaned, "this is going to stress me out."

'that's why I'm here." Alya said, hugging her, "super maid of honor, at your service, see you later girl."

Marinette waved good bye and started to climb the stairs towards her bed.

"Marinette!" Sabine called from downstairs, making Marinette groan.

"yes Maman?" Marinette asked wearily, walking towards her trap door as Sabine peaked her head in.

"just making sure you're still awake, Adrien's in the living room, waiting for you."

'he is?" she asked in surprise, slowly walking down the stairs and peeking into the living room, Where Adrien and her dad were sitting on the couch, uncomfortably looking anywhere but each other.

"Adrien? What are you doing here?" Marinette asked in confusion, looking at her father nervously.

"I came to see if you wanted to go get something to eat, maybe talk about the wedding?" he said, carefully standing up, still glancing nervously at Tom.

"um…I would like that," she said, "if I can…" she looked at Tom, who looked at her, then at Sabine before standing up,

"I'm gonna go man the cashier." He mumbled, waking downstairs while Sabine sighed.

"go ahead honey," she said with a smile to Marinette, "and when you get back, I want you to tell me everything you two have decided on."

"Okay Maman." Marinette said dejectedly as Adrien walked up to her, carefully intertwining his hand with her.

"we'll be back soon Ms. Dupain." Adrien told her with a smile, gently walking Marinette down the stairs.

"take care of her Adrien," Sabine said, "and make sure she eats semi-healthy."

"Will do."

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"you can't keep pretending she's not here,"

Tom looked up from the register to glance at his wife, who was busily icing a cake, she wasn't even facing him, but he knew she was mad at him.

"I'm not pretending she's not here." Tom said quietly.

"then what do you call not looking her in the eye when she talks to you?" she asked, an edge coming to her voice, "what do you call walking out of a room when she walks in? what do you call making up an excuse to walk away when she tries to ask you a question?"

Tom hesitated, then sighed, "I'm just…I don't like this." he said, 'She's growing up too fast…I mean a baby and she's getting married? That wasn't supposed to happen for…well, not this soon at least!"

Sabine stopped working and walked up to her husband, wrapping her arms around him, "she isn't going to stay our little girl forever tom, and if you keep acting the way you do, she won't even stay our daughter, you're driving her away, and it kills me to think that you're doing it on purpose for something so meaningless."

Tom relaxed slightly, "I'll…I'll try and talk to her when she comes home…

"that's all I ask," Sabine said, kissing his cheek, "Now get ready, I told Monsieur Agreste that we'd go speak with him about the engagement tonight, and I won't be going alone."


	8. fighting and food

"what do you want the cake to be like?"

Marinette sighed, "I don't know Alya," she said wearily, "can I just go to sleep now?"

"it's three in the afternoon." Alya said, raising an eyebrow at Marinette over her tablet.

"I'm very tired," Marinette said, 'today has been an emotional rollercoaster for me, I just want to sleep…or eat…or sleep and eat…"

"sleep and eat?"

"I can multi-task." She defended.

Alya laughed and turned her tablet off, "let's go downstairs and see if we can't buy a pizza."

"pizza…" she said wistfully, "it sounds so good…pepperoni with beef and Italian sausage...bits of bacon drizzled on top."

"you know, I thought you were a vegetarian, since you know…you told me you were." Alya said pointedly.

"huh…" she thought about it, "I don't know…usually the thought of meat makes me gag…but right now…it just sounds sooo good."

"guess those cravings are starting to come in." Alya said with a laugh as they went down stairs. Where Sabine was putting the finishing touches on her make-up.

"lookin' good Mrs. Cheng!" Alya whistled, "where you goin all gussied up?"

Sabine smiled, "thank you Alya, and me and tom are going to dinner with Monsieur Agreste."

"Oooh, somewhere fancy?" Alya asked as Marinette went into the kitchen.

"no, just a regular restaurant." She said, "I put money on the counter for you two to get a pizza, I know the pizzeria up the street is having a sale, you know, the one that sells that veggie pizza you like so much Marinette."

Marinette made a face as she pulled a pickle and some camembert out, "thanks Maman, but I don't think I want a veggie pizza tonight."

"she wants meat," Alya said with a small laugh, making Sabine chuckle, "cravings are coming on and it's a little funny and-what the hell are you eating Marinette?" Alya asked, making a disgusted face as Sabine turned around to look at her daughter.

"hmm…I think it's a pickle and camembert between two cookies…with frosting…" Marinette mumbled as she took a bite, "what?" she asked.

"that…is pretty disgusting." Alya said.

Marinette stuck her tongue out at Alya and took another bite of her creation as Tom walked down.

"you ready to go dear?" Tom asked. Walking down the stairs, he looked over at the food Marinette was eating and made a face, "that's gross." He said, Making Marinette deflate a little, 'b-b-but that doesn't mean you can't eat it!" he said quickly, "eat-eat what you want."

Marinette smiled, "thanks papa…" she said, taking another bite of her food.

Tom smiled a little bit, then turned to Sabine, "we need to get going." He said to Sabine.

"alright, just let me grab my clutch." Sabine said, walking over and picking up the small purse, 'alright, let's go, Marinette, no staying up after 9."

"okay Maman." Marinette said as her parents walked towards the stairs.

"you two girls have a good night tonight," Tom said, "and Marinette…have a good night…" Tom said quickly, walking down the stairs with Sabine following, rolling her eyes with a smile.

"your dads slowly coming around, isn't he?" Alya asked.

"yeah…slowly…" Marinette said with a small smile, "now let's order that pizza."

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Adrien slowly made his way through the park, Nino beside him.

"I'm tellin' ya bro, you let me DJ the wedding, and it'll be off the hook!" Nino said, pumping his fist in the air.

"I don't know if I want a 'off the hook' wedding, I'd rather the wedding be securely, and safely on the hook." Adrien said.

'bro, everyone saw your proposal video, there's gonna be a lot of people, like, half of Paris wanting to see it!"

'I'm not that famous Nino," Adrien said defensively, "why would they want to?"

"because a wedding is cause for celebration, a wedding of Paris' golden child? People are going to be lining up to see it."

"that doesn't mean they're going to get to get in."

Nino shrugged, "I'm just sayin'."

"I know, but I don't think Marinette wants a big wedding, just something small, friends and family."

"which means I'll be there, which means you can use me as the DJ to cut costs."

Adrien laughed, "you'll DJ for free?"

"I'll do it at a discount." Nino chuckled, nudging his best friend.

"yo Agreste!" someone shouted, making Adrien turn around, raising an eyebrow as three upperclassmen he didn't know walked up to him, the one in front was smirking at Adrien, "heard about your engagement to the baker's daughter."

"yeah…who are you?"

"sorry, my names Jaune," he said, "and I've been tryin' to catch Mari's eye for who knows how long, guess now I know why she wouldn't go for me, huh?"

Adrien narrowed his eyes a little bit, "yeah, guess so," he muttered.

"so anyway bro, you gotta tell us, how is she in the sack huh?"

Adrien clenched his fists, "I don't think that's your business." He said pointedly.

"come on man, we're all bros here, and we know you got her in the sack, it ain't hard to figure out. So give some details man."

Adrien started to raise his arm, only for Nino to stop him, "calm down bro, ain't worth it, let's just go."

"yeah…"

"we ain't done talkin' yet Agreste." Jaune started to say.

"I am," Adrien shot back, "what I do with my fiancé is my business, not yours."

"what just because the bitch is on a leash now means-" he stopped as Adrien turned around and punched him.

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Nathanael had been busy sketching, one ear bud in his ear and another in Lila's, he hadn't questioned it when she had walked over and sat down next to him, stealing the ear bud and opening a book, He had just continued to do what he did best.

Until he heard the sounds of a fight, making him look up to see something that didn't make any sense to him.

"is that…Adrien and Nino?" Nathanael asked, slowly standing up, watching as Adrien punched some auburn haired guy a few seconds before said guy's friends pounced on him, Nino tackled one off of Adrien and ended up trading blows with him on the ground while Adrien tried to fight off the auburn haired guy and his friend.

"what?" Lila asked, looking up as Nathanael dropped his sketch book into her lap and took off running towards the fight, "Nathanael wait!"

Nathanael barely paid attention to her as Adrien got restrained by one of the guys, the other was already pounding into the blond, "hey jackass." Nathanael shouted, socking him in the jaw, "back off my friends!"

Adrien used the momentary confusion to shoot his head back and head-butted Jaune, making him let go, Adrien quickly turned around and punched him in the stomach, then kneed him in the face as he doubled over, he stumbled slightly as the guy fell onto him.

Nathanael quickly ran forward and pushed the guy away from Adrien, steadying the blond as he did, "you alright?" Nathanael asked.

"yeah…" he said, breathing heavily, "thanks…"

"anytime." Nathanael said, turning around to see if Nino was alright, only to get punched by the guy he had tackled, who looked very pissed as he tried to stop the bleeding on his broken nose.

"little shit!" he snarled, grabbing Nathanael and throwing him against a tree, Adrien moved to help, only to get tackled to the ground by Jaune.

"Nino! Help!" Adrien grunted out as he rolled around on the ground, wrestling with Jaune.

"I'm a little busy at the moment!" Nino snapped, slamming the guy he was wrestling with on the ground several times before getting kicked off and pounced on.

Nathanael was doing his best to fight off his own guy, who was simply swinging his fists, trying to land hits on the redhead, and more or less succeeding.

"I'm gonna pound you into dust kid!" he growled in his face, cocking his fist back, before he could follow through, a large hand grabbed his wrist, he turned around and felt himself pale as he saw the large, hulking behemoth known as Ivan.

"let him go," Ivan growled at him, making the guy tighten his grip on Nathanael's shirt.

Ivan instantly tightened his grip on the wrist, making the guy cry out in pain.

"I said, let. Him. Go." Ivan growled again, and the guy finally let go of Nathanael's shirt.

"Now let me go man!"

Ivan slowly let the guy's arm go, and almost laughed when he tried to punch him in the stomach, "wrong move." Ivan said, swinging once and knocking the guy out, he then turned to Nathanael, "you alright Nath?"

"fine," Nathanael coughed, slowly getting up, "how's Adrien and Nino?"

"see for yourself," Ivan said, turning to the side to show both Nino and Adrien running off their respective opponents.

"yeah! Keep running!" Nino shouted, wiping blood off his chin as he did. Adrien just slowly leaned against the tree.

"you good Adrien?" Nathanael asked, walking over to the guy.

"do I look good?" Adrien questioned.

"no, you look a little like hammered shit," Nathanael commented, looking at Adrien's black eye and bruised face, blood slowly oozing out of a cut over his eye.

"speak for yourself," Adrien chuckled.

"all of you look like hammered shit," Ivan said gruffly, patting Nathanael on the back, making him wince.

"whatever!" Nino said, still hopped up on the adrenaline rush, "I just beat someone's ass! I'm freakin' jacked man!"

Adrien chuckled, "you beat up one skinny loser," Adrien said, "good job.'

"are you kidding!? That guy was like 210 pounds, solid muscle, and I took him down! No help! By myself!" he pumped his fist in the air, "Whooo!" he shouted, then turned around and threw up.

"Oh dude!" Adrien started, slowly standing up, "you alright?"

"got…hit one…one too many times in the stomach." Nino groaned, falling into a patch of grass.

"everyone alright!?" Mylene asked worriedly, running over with an out of breath Lila.

Adrien gave a thumbs up while Nathanael just walked over to Lila, "you got Ivan?" he asked her.

"I wasn't about to jump into the fight," Lila muttered, crossing her arms, "you look like utter crap Nath."

"can't tell," Nathanael chuckled weakly.

Lila huffed and pulled a compact mirror out, showing Nathanael his face, he flinched at how roughed up he looked, with both eyes blackened and several cuts on his chin, forehead and cheek.

"you boys definitely need to get cleaned up." Mylene said as she helped Nino up.

"nah…I'm…I'm on top of the world…" Nino mumbled weakly, his adrenaline having worn off and the pain from his multiple scrapes and bruises finally affecting him.

Ivan rolled his eyes and picked Nino up, slinging him over his shoulder, "you good to walk Adrien?" he asked.

"I'm good," Adrien said, standing up, wincing as he felt a pain in his side, "damn it," he muttered.

"what's wrong?" Mylene asked.

"just some bruising." He muttered, "bastard hit me a couple times right in my spleen."

Nathanael laughed, "you're tellin' me."

"come on hero," Lila said pointedly, grabbing Nathanael's arm, "let's get you three somewhere where we can clean you up.

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Marinette moaned slightly as she took another bite of her pizza, "god this is so good! How have I never had this before!"

"you've never had it because, until now, you were a vegetarian." Alya said in amusement as she ate her own slice, "but I guess you're over that now."

Marinette nodded furiously as she reached for another slice.

Alya laughed, picking up her phone as it pinged, "huh, got a text from Mylene," she muttered, unlocking her phone, "oh my god." she groaned.

"What?" Marinette asked around a mouthful of pizza.

Alya looked at her nervously, "Um…okay, don't freak out…go to your happy place, your nice, calm happy place."

"Alya, what's wrong?" Marinette asked worriedly, putting her slice down and looking at her.

She took a deep breath, "Nino, Adrien, and Nathanael got into a fight, and Ivan, Mylene and Lila are bringing them here to get them…cleaned up."

Marinette looked at her, then started laughing.

"um…you're taking this rather well…"

she kept laughing, "of course I am, you're joking right?" she asked, looking at Alya, who was still looking at her nervously, "oh my god you're not joking."

"sorry?"

Marinette's smile dropped from her face, "oh my god," she groaned, covering her face, "why the hell did Adrien get into a fight!"

"I don't know, but you can ask him when they come in, they'll be here in like a minute." Alya said, standing up and holding her hand out to Marinette, who took it and stood up.

"I swear to god if it's something stupid I'm going to kill him." She growled, stomping downstairs.

Alya sighed, "heart goes out to you Adrien." She muttered, walking after her friend.

Marinette stomped downstairs and opened the front door, anger coursing through her as she turned back around and walked over to the counter, leaning against it.

"Mari-" Alya started.

"Sssssh, please…I'm getting myself ready to chew Adrien out…"

Alya sighed and looked up as the door opened, "they're here."

Marinette turned around, looking completely ready to raise hell until she saw Adrien's black eye and the blood that covered his shirt and neck.

"before you say anything," Adrien mumbled, walking towards her, leaning against the chairs as he went, "the other guy looked worse.

Marinette didn't say anything, she just stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him, tears trailing down her cheeks.

Alya smiled a little, _you're sooo lucky,_ she mouthed to Adrien as she walked around them and went over to where Ivan was setting Nino down, "and what happened to you?"

"uh..." Nino groaned, slowly pulling his shirt up to show his bruised abdomen, 'The guy really seemed to hate my abs of steel."

"abs of putty more like," Nathanael muttered as Lila forced him to sit down, making him wince.

"what even started the fight?" Alya asked, raising an eyebrow.

"don't know," Nathanael said, "just saw Adrien and Nino in a fight, ran to help."

"Lila ran and got us." Mylene piped up, looking at Ivan.

Alya looked at Adrien, who was attempting to calm Marinette down, "what happened lover boy?" Alya asked.

"some jackass was trying to ask Adrien how Marinette was in bed." Nino mumbled, making Alya look at him, "Adrien refused to tell him and blew him off, saying it didn't matter to him what he did with his fiancée, guy called Marinette a bitch on a leash, and Adrien socked him in the jaw, guy's friends attacked Adrien, I tackled one of them, and the fight was on…" he groaned again, "and now my stomach is killing me."

"who were these guys?" Alya asked, "and how soon can we track them down and kick their asses?"

"we did a pretty good job," Nino defended, wincing when Alya flicked his bruised jaw.

"don't tell me they looked worse then you."

"actually they did," Ivan said, crossing his arms and leaning against the wall, "Adrien and Nino drove off their dancing partners, and Nath only needed help with the guy when he got blind-sided."

"well, at least I know you guys are good in a fight," Alya said, kneeling down next to Nino, "but in all seriousness, are you okay?"

"I'm fine," he said "but could we get some napkins or something? I'm getting blood on my favorite shirt."

Alya laughed and stood up, "let me go get the first aid kit." Alya said, walking past Marinette and Adrien, gently patting Marinette's shoulder.

"you're such an idiot…" Marinette mumbled, tears still trailing down her cheeks.

"I know," Adrien whispered, "but I couldn't let him talk about you like that."

"Still…" she muttered, "you're an idiot."

"an idiot who may want to sit down," Alya said, walking in with the first aid kit, "so we can clean him up a little bit before his dad gets here and rips him a new one for getting in a fight."

Adrien groaned as Marinette let him go and sat him down, "I completely forgot about my dad."

"how can you do that?" Nino asked, wincing as Alya put ice on his stomach, "you used to always worry what your pops would say bro."

Adrien shrugged.

"where's your bathroom?" Lila asked, looking over at Nathanael, who was still bleeding a little, "I don't want to get his blood all over the place."

"up the stairs and to the right," Marinette said.

"thank you," Lila said, walking over to Nathanael, "come on Hero, let's get you cleaned up.'

Nathanael slowly stood up, wincing, "thanks for your hospitality Marinette." He said as Lila helped him towards the stairs.

Ivan sat down, "sheesh, all this makes me hungry." Ivan said.

"Help yourself to the pizza upstairs Ivan," Marinette said as she pulled a cotton ball out and put hydrogen peroxide on it, "you too Mylene, if you're hungry."

"thanks Marinette, I'll just go make sure Ivan doesn't eat you out of house and home." Mylene giggled, following her boyfriend.

"this'll hurt a little," Marinette said, reaching up and dabbing his cut.

'ow!" Adrien hissed, flinching a little.

"I told you," she said with a small laugh.

Alya smiled at the two, "you know she was all set to tear him a new one?" she asked Nino."

"yeah, I saw the way she was standing when we walked in." Nino mumbled, wincing every now and then as Alya cleaned off his chin, "then she saw how roughed up he was."

"who were those guys?" Alya asked.

"uh…I know one of them was a year older then us." Adrien said, "Jaune something…"

"Jaune Marc?" Alya asked.

"don't know the last name, but sounds about right." Nino said.

"god I really hope you guys beat him bad." Alya grumbled, "guy's a jackass. Nice enough when he's not around his little friends, but he's got a temper like nothing I've ever seen."

"well you should be happy then." Nino said with a small smirk, "Adrien socked him in the jaw three times."

Marinette hummed in disapproval, but gave Adrien a small kiss on the chin.

Alya laughed, "So, who's gonna break it to Poppa Agreste that Adrien got in a fight?"

"not it," nino and Marinette chorused while Adrien paled.

Alya laughed, "oh you're screwed," Alya said.

"thanks for the pizza Marinette," Ivan said, walking down the stairs with a slice of pizza in his hands, Mylene right behind him, "we got tickets to a movie, so we'll see you guys later, no more fights."

"got it," Nino and Adrien chorused as they walked out.

"on that note, I'm going to get Nino home," Alya said, helping her boyfriend up, "we'll call in here in a couple of hours, make sure you two are still alive."

"you guys stay safe," Marinette said, giving her best friend a hug.

"you too girl, good luck Adrien."

"thanks," Adrien said, waving goodbye as they walked out.

"so, how long do you think we have until your parents come home?" Adrien asked.

"an hour or two, maybe." Marinette said, "they've been gone since five, and it's almost eleven now."

"so I have three hours to live." He said dramatically.

Marinette just rolled her eyes, "you'll be fine," she said gently, "I'm sure your father won't be…too mad.'

"understatement of the year," he muttered, "um…didn't Nathanael and Lila come in too?"

"yes we did," Lila said, walking down the stairs, looking a little nervous, "and…could we stay a little longer? Nath is still disoriented."

"of course," Marinette said kindly, "Stay as long as you need."

"thank you Marinette," Lila said, turning to walk back up the stairs.

"let's go upstairs too Adrien," Marinette said, slowly walking to the door and locking it, "it'll be a lot more comfortable then sitting down in these chairs."


	9. double deuce

Adrien had gotten off lucky.

By the time his father found out what happened, he had been able to get most of his wounds cleaned up, so he didn't look as bad as he had when he first stumbled into the bakery.

Of course he was still pretty banged up, the bruises and cuts on his face were easily noticeable. So when Gabriel walked in, it was only the presence of Tom, Sabine, and Nathalie that kept him from tearing his son a new one, instead he had to take a deep breath and listen to his sons side of what happened, once he had done that, he was still angry, but not at Adrien…

…he was angry at the boys who goaded him into fighting.

'what kind of immature, self-entitled little brats use an innocent girl as a way to start a fight." He growled, "If I find out who they are-"

"you won't do anything sir," Nathalie said, "it seems Adrien did enough already."

"Yeah," Nathanael said from his spot on the couch, slowly sitting up as Lila walked in with a cup of water and some pain relievers, "sent the one that started it running with his tail between his legs."

Gabriel glared at Nathanael, then turned to Adrien, "I hope you understand that this means you won't be able to model for a week at least, which means you won't have a paycheck for that long."

"I know…" Adrien mumbled.

"now come, let's get home." Gabriel said, turning around, "thank you for accompanying me to dinner tonight Monsieur Dupain and madam Cheng, I hope we can do it again."

'just give us the date." Sabine said with a smile. Looking at Marinette as she walked over to Adrien and gave him a hug.

"See you in school tomorrow." Marinette said softly, 'no more fights.'

"No promises." Adrien said, hesitantly kissing her on the top of her head before following his father out the door.

"We better go too," Lila said, helping Nathanael up.

"Do you two need a ride?" Tom asked.

Nathanael shook his head, "I live close by and Lila said she'd get her sister to pick her up there."

"alright, but you two stay safe." Tom said, giving Nathanael a pat on the back and almost making him collapse.

"yes sir.' Nathanael wheezed as he and Lila walked down the stairs.

"thanks for your help Lila," Marinette called, "See you tomorrow!"

"see ya Marinette." Lila said with a small smile as she and Nathanael walked out the front door.

Sabine let out a sigh as she looked at her daughter, "how are you feeling Marinette?"

"tired," Marinette said, sitting back down, "today has been…a whirlwind of emotions."

"why don't you go upstairs and sleep," She said with a smile. 'get some rest before it's too late."

Marinette nodded, "night Maman," she said, giving her mother a hug, "night papa, she said, hesitantly walking up to her father.

Tom smiled and ruffled her hair, "goodnight Marinette." He said, kissing her forehead.

Marinette smiled and walked up the stairs, closing her door shut behind her.

"looks like you're doing better." Sabine hummed, walking up to Tom.

"it's still a little awkward." He admitted, wrapping his arms around his wife, 'but I'll get used to it."

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The next day was the most uncomfortable day in Adrien's life.

Word had gotten around about what had happened at the park, and now half the school stared at him in awe as he walked to class, guys would stop him in the hall and congratulate him not only on winning the fight, but 'bagging the bakers daughter."

"Dude, I ain't gonna lie," one guy said, "I been tryin' to take her on a date for like…two years, but she always turned me down, now I guess I know she's with one cool dude."

"Uh…thanks." Adrien said awkwardly as he walked away from the guy, "Sheesh, why do so many people care about the fight?"

"because Jaune was a dick," Nino said, walking next to Adrien with a large grin on his face, "and you took him down!"

"it was a fluke, if you and Nathanael hadn't been there-"

"then you would've whooped all three of them!" Nino said, "just bask in the glory bro, you're like the coolest guy in school! With me right next to ya."

Adrien rolled his eyes but smiled, "I don't care about all that man, I'm just glad I only got away with a stern reprimand and my curfew time being moved to eight."

"that's all you got!" Nino asked in outrage, "I got grounded for three weeks! One for each of the guys we fought! And I got my computer taken away!"

"sounds rough," Adrien said, patting his arm as Nino deflated.

"life just isn't fair is it?"

"Nope," Alya said, appearing by Nino's side and throwing an arm around him in an attempt to comfort him, "but look at the bright side, at least you won the fight."

"you're mocking me, aren't you?"

"little bit."

Adrien laughed as they walked into the classroom.

"look who it is, the great heroes." Kim called as they went to their desks.

"you guys heard about it too?" Adrien groaned.

"duh," Alix said, leaning back in her chair, "Ivan and Mylene caught us up to speed, nice fighting their lover boy."

Adrien felt his ears burn as he looked back at Nathanael, who had just walked in.

"another hero joins our presence!" Kim cried dramatically.

"The vanquisher of evil," Alix said, pretending to faint against Kim before both burst out laughing.

"I fought one guy and almost got my ass kicked," Nathanael said, sitting down and pulling out his sketch book, "what a hero."

"that's not how I remember it, I remember you sucker punching one guy, then getting jumped from behind by another and still managing to fight." Ivan said.

"From what I remember, I was just trying not to get more jacked up then I already was." Nathanael said dryly.

"whatever man, point is, you jumped into a fight to help the model and the DJ, respect man." Kim said, holding his hand up for a high five, Nathanael looked at him for a couple of seconds, before reaching up and high fiving him.

"yeah!" Kim exclaimed, pumping his fist in the air, "God I'm so excited now! Nathanael's all grown up!"

"Kim shut up and sit down!" Alix snapped, "sheesh, you're acting like a kid."

"whatever, you're acting like a kid.'

Nathanael rolled his eyes looking at Adrien, "You feeling alright today Adrien?" he asked.

"sore and tired." Adrien said, "and yourself?"

'just about the same." Nathanael said, starting to sketch, "where's Marinette?"

"she's taking a mental health day." Alya said, "her mother said that yesterday was a pretty hectic day for her."

Adrien looked down, feeling guilty, "and I just added to the pile didn't I?"

Alya patted his shoulder, "she was having a lot of emotional crap going on before you got your pretty face kicked in."

"yeah, pregnancy does not help with emotions." Kim said, then covered his mouth while Alix glared at him.

"I told you that was a secret!" she hissed, punching his arm.

"you told Kim!" Alya exclaimed, "of all people you could tell, you told Kim!"

"he said he could keep a secret!" Alix snapped, "obviously not."

"come on! I thought most everyone knew Marinette was pregnant."

"Marinette's Pregnant?" Max asked walking in, Ivan groaned and slapped his forehead.

"good job Kim." Alix grumbled.

"hey, we were all gonna find out sooner or later." Kim grumbled, "and Yes Max, Marinette's pregnant, you're going to be an uncle…I'm gonna be an uncle!" Kim jumped up, "guy's! I'm gonna be an uncle!"

"no, you're going to be an annoying friend that Marinette tries to keep away from her child." Alix said, flicking his forehead.'

"oh screw you, Marinette loves me." Kim said smugly, groaning when Alix hit him in the stomach.

"she'd love you more if you could keep a secret!" Alix snapped.

"what secret?" Chloe asked, walking in, instantly everyone went quiet, Chloe narrowed her eyes and looked around, "what's going on?"

"mind your business," Alya said pointedly, narrowing her eyes, "or did you forget what we talked about yesterday?"

Chloe narrowed her eyes at Alya and walked to her seat, sitting down with a huff.

Lila walked in right after, looking around the room, "why's everyone so tense?" he asked, walking towards her seat next to Nathanael.

"just some drama, like usual." Nathanael said.

"Where's the popcorn when you need it?" she asked, making Nathanael smile slightly, she started to sit down, but stopped when she felt her phone vibrate, she pulled it out and sighed when she saw the caller ID, "I'll be right back." She said, gently touching his shoulder as she walked by, making Nathanael shiver slightly, looking at her walk out with a confused expression. Unaware that Alya had watched everything.

"I'll be right back babe." Alya said, standing and walking out of the room, looking around, smirking slightly when she saw Lila walk into an empty classroom, she quickly followed and stopped the door from closing, peering in as Lila answered her phone.

"hey sis, what's wrong?" Lila asked, Alya strained to here but couldn't hear what was being said on the other line.

"well what's her temperature?" she asked, "no, shouldn't need to take her to the hospital, just give her some…of course she's crying she's sick and has the flu…put her on the phone…" suddenly Lila's demeanor changed, "Mio piccolo angelo, what's the matter?" she asked quietly, her voice taking on a loving tone, "are you feeling sick honey? I'm sorry, I promise when I get home we'll sit in the foyer and watch movies all afternoon, but until then I need you to be a good little girl for Zia Scarlet…yes that includes taking the icky medicine, and when I get home I'll make you chicken soup and we'll watch Frozen…yes I promise, okay? Okay, I love you Mia Dolce Bambina, put Zia Scarlet on the phone."

Alya's eyes widened as she looked up the words the girl in front of her had said.

"she should be more cooperative now sis," Lila said with a sigh, a small smile on her lips, "if you need anything else just text…no I can't leave, you know I can't miss any days anymore, I promise I'll make it up to you...Addio sorella." Lila hung up and sighed, turning around and almost jumping when she saw Alya standing at the door.

"So…your sister had a baby recently huh?" Alya asked.

"how much did you hear?" Lila asked.

"enough.' Alya said, "enough to know that you're sister isn't the one who has a kid."

Lila tried to think quickly, trying to come up with something that could cover up the facts that had come out, but before she could speak, smoke started filing the room, "what the-" Lila started as the door slammed shut behind Alya.

"what's going on!?" Alya exclaimed as the smoke got thicker.

"I don't know! We-*cough*-we have to-*cough**cough*" Lila wheezed as she fell to the ground.

"Lila!" Alya choked out, looking around blearily as the smoke continued to pour in, she grabbed a nearby stool and staggered to the window, swinging it as hard as she could into the glass, it cracked and spider webbed, but didn't break, "come on!" she coughed, swinging again, the window buckled, but didn't give, Alya fell to her knee's, the stool falling to the ground beside her, "damn…it…' she groaned as she passed out.

The smoke suddenly thinned, condensing into the corner of the room, shaping itself into a thin teenager in a trench coat and blue jeans, no shoes on his feet, a lit cigarette in his mouth, "bout time they passed out." He said, walking towards the two unconscious girls, "couldn't hold my breath for much longer."

"good thing you're a chain smoker." Another voice snickered as the door opened and a leather-clad teen with long blonde hair walked in, a twelve-inch curved knife in his hand, "now, let's play."

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Nino looked at the door in concern as Mme. Bustier went over the notes. "you know, Alya left quite some time ago…I'm a little worried."

"I'm sure she's fine." Adrien said with a smile.

"yeah…maybe…" Nino muttered, pulling his phone out when it started vibrating, he looked at the screen and almost dropped it.

"what's wrong?" Adrien asked.

Nino shakily showed Adrien his phone, and Adrien swore as he saw a picture of Alya tied to a metal beam, her limp head being held up by a pale hand with a caption that read 'is this yours?'

"who the hell would do this?" Adrien asked. His fists clenched.

"I don't know…but I'm gonna find them, and when I do-" he stopped as something crashed to the ground behind them, they both turned around and saw Nathanael storming out the back exit, his things scattered across the floor.

"Mr. Kurtzburg!" Mme. Bustier shouted as he walked out, "where are you going!?"

"think that has any connection with Alya?" Adrien asked.

"I think so." Nino said as the two jumped up and followed him, "Nathanael! Wait up!" he ran out and almost instantly stopped when he got punched in the face.

"where you think you're going Lover Boy?" the knife wielding teen asked with a lazy grin.

Adrien clenched his fist, the guy in front of him screamed Akuma, but he couldn't do anything, not as Adrien.

"out of my way." Nino growled, slowly getting up, Ivan and Kim quickly stood up and backed Nino up.

"I will momentarily." He said, strutting in, looking at everyone, "just wanted to make sure my message got delivered to you."

'your message? You have Alya!? Where is she you son of a-" Nino struggled against Ivan and Kim as they held him back.

He grinned, "good, use that fire, because you're gonna need it, I formally challenge you to a fight, the winner gets to keep Ms. Alya Cesaire,"

"she's not a prize you jackass!" Alix snapped at him, flinching slightly as the point of his knife almost nicked her nose.

"not to me," he said, looking at Nino, "so, what do you say Nino?"

"and what happens to the loser?" Adrien asked before Nino could say anything, glaring at the Akuma.

The Akuma grinned, showing him the knife, "what do you think?"

'Now wait just a minute!" Mme. Bustier exclaimed, finally stomping over to the Akuma, "I will not sit idly by while you threaten my students!"

"then stand if you prefer it," he said, "because it's gonna happen."

"if you think you can come into my classroom and just start-" she stopped as the man whirled around on her, plunging the knife into her stomach.

"Mme. Bustier!" Adrien exclaimed running towards her as the guy pulled the knife out and she collapsed, Adrien caught her before she hit the ground, several others running down towards her.

"you have until ten to decide, if anyone else comes other then you and tomato head, your girls are dead." He said, turning around to walk away.

"who are you!" Kim snapped, his fists clenched.

He looked back "I'm Scorn," he said, walking out.

"someone call an ambulance!" Adrien shouted, trying to stop the bleeding.

Juleka quickly pulled her phone out, making the call while Chloe slowly stood up and looked down at Madam Bustier.

"Chloe go sit back down," Adrien commanded, still trying to stop the bleeding,

"s-s-she's going to be alright…right?"

"Chloe go sit back down." Adrien said, his voice gentler this time, "we'll…we'll take care of Mme. Bustier."

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Adrien watched as the ambulance sped away, their lights and sirens on as they took Mme. Bustier to the hospital, everyone stood around, speaking in hushed whispers, Nathanael sat quietly on the steps, they had found him on the stairs, wheezing and gasping for breath, from what they could get out of him, he had been cornered by another akuma; who had been given the same challenge as Nino, as well as the same warning.

Adrien slowly turned around, "Guy's," he said loudly, making everyone look over, "head home, nothing left for most of us to do."

"we ain't leaving Nino and Nathanael to face these akuma alone!" Kim said, clenching his fists, Ivan nodded, cracking his knuckles.

Adrien fixed them with a glare, making Kim wilt slightly, "go, you heard the Akuma, if anyone else comes…"

"you expect us to just sit back!? Those guy's will kill them!" Kim exclaimed.

"they won't." Adrien said strongly, "I have a plan, now go."

Kim took a couple steps back, then nodded, walking away with Alix and Max. Ivan just gave them one last, anger filled look before Mylene pulled him away.

Adrien waited until they left before half sitting/half falling onto the steps, his hands shaking slightly.

"you alright bro?" Nino asked worriedly.

Adrien gave a dry chuckle, "I'm supposed to ask you that." He said shakily.

"well you were the one who had to hold Mme. Bustier together while the paramedics…" Nino shook his head and sat down heavily beside her, "so, what's the plan?"

Adrien looked up, "Plagg…come on out."

'what?" nino asked in confusion while Nathanael looked up.

"Just give it a minute," Adrien said, "Plagg, come on, jig is up."

"you sure kid?" Plagg sked, flying out, making Nino stumble back, nathanael's eyes widened slightly as the small cat.

'I'm sure." Adrien said, "Nino can't fight this akuma unless he has the help of a miraculous."

"I can't bond with him or the tomato head, sure you could give them the ring, but they aren't my chosen,…which means…" Plagg flew up to Nino's stunned face, "you two need to get your own miraculous."

Nino gulped, then looked at Adrien, "did…that cat just talk…and fly? "

Adrien sighed, "this is gonna be a long day…you keeping up Nathanael."

he nodded slightly, standing up, "so…where do we get our own miraculous?" he asked Plagg.

"listen carefully."

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Scorn walked into an old apartment building, twirling his knife lazily in his hand, "the girls secured?"

"yes," a disembodied voice said as smoke started to collect right next to him, solidifying into a man, "they're tied up on the third floor."

"good, we have until ten to get ready for the fight,"

"you really think they're gonna show?"

"No Smoke, I don't, but they'll get Chat Noir and Lady brat to come fight for them." he grinned as he dragged the knife against the wall, cutting easily through the stone and wood, "and then we take what we need for hawkmoth and take out those sons of bitches."

Smoke nodded slightly, "what about the teacher? Was it really necessary to harm her like you did?"

"she annoyed me." he drawled, "so I shut her up."

"you're lucky she's not dead." Smoke muttered, "If she had died-"

"-if she had died," he said sharply, interrupting him, "nothing would've happened, we're like gods now, stronger, faster and more efficient than anyone else, including those two so-called superheroes." He started walking away, "get things ready, fight starts soon."

Smoke watched him leave, "I'm beginning to think this wasn't worth it." He muttered before turning into smoke once more.


	10. the Challenge

"it's this way…no…this way…wait….maybe this way…"

"come on man!" nino snapped, glaring at the floating god as he looked around the deserted store front, "you said you knew where this "guardian" was."

"yeah, but it's hard to remember when last time you were there was World War II!" Plagg snapped, flying down an alley, "Over here!"

Adrien started walking down the alleyway, Nathanael and Nino right behind him, "cut him some slack man." Adrien said to Nino, "he's trying his best."

"i know that, and i'm sorry, but Alya is out there right now, being held hostage by akuma's, so i'm not in a very patient mood."

Adrien just patted his shoulder as they came to a door, where Plagg was pacing back and forth nervously, "alright kid, knock." Plagg said, flying into his pocket, and coming back out with a small wedge of cheese.

Adrien slowly knocked on the door, waiting nervously as Nathanael shifted behind him.

"wonder what this guardian looks like," he muttered, "Is he like…gigantic six foot tall dude in armor."

"No way, he's gonna be in like, robes and chanting and shit, probably with some kind of giant walking stick."

the door opened and Adrien's eyes widened, "or he can be a small old man in a hawaiian shirt."

Master Fu looked between the three teens and the Kwami god of destruction.

"Plagg," The guardian started, "what's going on?"

"basically, two Akuma's kidnapped two girls, stabbed teacher, and now we need to defeat them but we can't without Ladybug, who is p-out of the fight at the moment…"

Master Fu narrowed his eyes, then sighed, "come in, quickly."

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Alya woke up tied to a metal pole in a large cavernous room, "what the…" she mumbled, looking around.

"Finally awake," Lila said from behind her, "was starting to get bored."

"did you have something to do with this?" Alya asked.

"oh please, if i did, would i be chained to this pipe?"

Alya sighed, "guess not…"she muttered, "can you see anything on your side?"

"nothing at all." she said, "couple of old machines…a door…what about you?"

"just open space on my end…" Alya muttered, "think it's an Akuma?"

if it is i'm not seeing it's plan…don't they usually just march down mainstreet?" Lila asked tiredly.

"guess these ones are going for some kind of subtle approach." Alya said. still looking around, she caught something out of the corner of her eyes, she turned her head fully and almost flinched as she saw Smoke walking towards them, a lit cigarette still in his mouth, a jug of water in one hand.

"you two are awake." he muttered, "good, Saves me the grief from trying to wake you up." he walked up to Lila and knelt down, "thirsty?" he asked, holding the jug up, Lila didn't move, just glared at the man.

"alright then." he said, moving over to Alya, "are you thirsty?"

"up yours." she said.

"not very nice, and doesn't answer my question." he stood and started walking away, "don't worry, you'll only be here for a little while longer, our challenge should be answered soon."

"Challenge?" Lila asked. "what challenge?"

"So she speaks." he droned, looking at her, "yes, the challenge we gave your boyfriends, either come here to face us, or else."

"or else what?" Alya asked.

"boyfriend?" Lila questioned, scrunching her eyebrows together.

"Or else we'll gut you." Scorn said, walking over from where Smoke had appeared, "and drop your bodies on your boyfriends front door."

"Scorn." Smoke said warningly.

Scorn rolled his eyes, "your boyfriends have two more hours until I use this knife however i want on you two, so-"

"that won't happen Scorn." Smoke said, "you said we wouldn't hurt them."

"i say a lot of things Smoke," Scorn retorted, walking towards the door.

Smoke glared after him, then looked at the two girls, "he's only trying to scare you," he said, slowly following, "no harm will come to you, we're just waiting for Nino and Nathanael to get here, then you two will go free."

Alya let out a shake breath, "why do these guys have such a vendetta against Nino and Nathanael?"

Lila didn't speak, just cotinued looking down at the floor, "he's not my boyfriend." she muttered.

Alya blinked, then started to chuckle.

"what?" Lila asked as Alya started to laugh harder.

"we just got threatened with torture and death…" she gasped out, "and your'e more worried about the fact that they think Nathanael's your boyfriend."

Lila leaned her head back, then started laughing too, "does seem kind of funny does it?" she said tiredly.

Alya turned her head slightly, catching the brunette out of the corner of her eyes, "you two have been spending an awful lot of time together lately."

"he's a good friend." she said quietly, "he keeps me company…takes an interest in what i'm interested in…asks me about my day…makes me feel…good…"

"so what's the problem?" Alya asked, "it sounds like you two are on your way to being a couple."

"No." she mumbled, "i don't have time for a relationship…besides, guy as nice as him wouldn't want to go out with a girl like me…so much baggage…"

"you call a little girl baggage?" Alya asked.

"She's not baggage," Lila growled, taking a deep breath and letting her head fall.

Alya waited for a couple of seconds, "what's her name?" Alya asked softly.

Lila closed her eyes, "her name is Iliana," she mumbled, "Iliana Rossi…"

"how old?"

"five." Lila said with a sad smile. "little trouble maker, she can barely stay still for two seconds."

"just like every five year old." Alya chuckled, "I should know, i have two younger sisters."

Lila opened her eyes, "maybe when we get out of here, they could have a play date." she mumbled.

"maybe…" Alya said, "so why do you keep her a secret."

"i don't keep her a secret," she muttered, "i just don't talk about her…it's easier like that." she shook her head, "so what are we going to do? i know damn well we're not going to sit here and pay damsel in distress."

Alya smiled at that, "can you reach my back pocket?"

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"So…two innocent girls were captured by Akuma's, and your teacher was hurt." Fu said, stroking his goatee gently while Plagg and Wayzz caught up with each other on the bookshelf, "and Ladybug isn't at full strength."

"that's about right," Adrien said, "and we need… help."

Fu chuckled, "I can see that," he said, standing up and walking over to a record player, pressing several buttons in a certain order, it popped open and he pulled a intricate box out. "well, normally i wouldn't just hand out Miraculous…but these are desperate times." he looked at Nino, "funny enough, i was already planning on giving you a miraculous." he pulled his bracelet off, making Wayzz look up.

"master…are you sure?" Wayzz asked.

"he's the next holder." he said, handing the bracelet to Nino, "take care of him."

"i…i will sir." Nino said, putting the bracelet on while Wayzz hesitantly flew over to Nino.

Fu turned to Nathanael, who looked slightly uncomfortable under the scrutiny of the older man, "you were slated to be a Miraculous holder too, but the one i was hoping to give you is lost in the wind…however, i do believe the Wolf Miraculous will be a good fit for you." he held the small box out to Nathanael, who slowly opened it, gasping when a silver glow covered it "what the-"

"ah, Memories." Adrien said fondly as a small wolf-like Kwami appeared, flying around quickly.

"I'm free! i'm Free!" i'm Free!" she chanted, flying around Nathanael's head, "about time they gave me a holder!"

"uh…" Nathanael started, wincing as she slammed into his forehead, "Hey!"

"sorry! just so excited!" she gushed, "you have no idea how long i've been waiting for this!" she looked around wildly, then saw Plagg, "Plagg!" she shouted angrily, shooting straight for him, slamming her head into his stomach.

"OW! hey! what the-" the two Kwami's started wrestling in mid-air.

"i'm going to kick your ass!"

"what did i do!?" he snapped.

"Russia! 1804!"

"oh yeah! that was a fun year!"

"YOU ALMOST GOT MY WIELDER KILLED!"

"WELL IT"S NOT MY FAULT SHE WAS AN IDIOT!"

"Enough you two!" Fu shouted, making the two stop their fighting, "we have more important things to do then petty squabbling."

"Sorry…" the two chorused, the wolf flew past Plagg and hit him behind the head, making Plagg glare at her before flying back to Adrien.

"anyways," the wolf said to Nathanael, "i'm Lucia, and i'm going to be your Kwami!"

"i-i guess that's good." he said nervously, pulling a silver necklace out of the box, a wolf's head pendant dangling from it.

"i'll intrust Lucia to you for now, Mr. Kurtzburg." Fu said with a smile, "but when i ask for you to return her, i expect you to hand over the miraculous without any fuss."

"yes sir." Nathanael muttered quietly, putting the necklace on.

"alright, looks like we're ready." Adrien said, standing up, "so lets get this fight started! Plagg! Claws-" he was cut off as Master Fu slammed his hand into the base of his spine, making him collapse to the ground, "ow…"

"you two go along," Fu said to Nathanael and Nino, who were staring down at Adrien's immobile form in shock, "i'll send Adrien along shortly."

"uh…should we…help him?" Nino asked Nathanael.

"it's best to just listen to Master Fu." Wayzz said, "good luck Adrien."

"yeah…good luck." Nathanael said as he walked out of the room, Nino following with an apologetic smile.

"wait!" Plagg shouted, flying after them, "Don't leave me!"

"Plagg! what are you doing!?" Adrien exclaimed, trying to move but finding it next to impossible.

"Fu's got that angry look and i ain't staying to see why he's mad!" Plagg stopped as Fu grabbed him by the scruff.

"Good luck to you two." Fu said cheerfully, slowly closing the door.

"NO! HELP! COME ON-" the door slammed shut, cutting off Plagg's pleadings.

"does…anyone else find that guy scary?" nathanael gulped.

"come on, dude's chill." Nino said uncertainly, looking at Wayzz.

"They'll be fine." wayzz said, "Now, say 'shells on' and we can transform."

"teeth bared for you tomato head." Lucio said cheerfully, "now hurry up and say the words and lets go fight!"

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Marinette woke up to Tikki patting her forehead, "what is it Tikki?" She mumbled, slowly sitting up, feeling bone tired as she looked blearily at Tikki, who was sitting on her phone.

"you got a text from Adrien." Tikki said, flying up.

Marinette slowly picked up her phone and looked at it, her eyebrows scrunching up in confusion as she read the words.

" _come to master Fu's as soon as you can._

"Master Fu's?" she asked, "Do you know how to get there Tikki?"

"yes, but i thought we weren't going to Master Fu's until tomorrow?"

""Same…i wonder what happened?" she shook her head, "lets go Tikki."

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Nino ran across the rooftops of France, feeling more alive then he ever had before, "this is amazing!" he whooped as he jumped over a street, the hood on his head flapping back.

Nino!" Nathanael shouted, attempting to keep up, every now and then looking down at his grey suit, or the bow on his back,"slow down! don't we need to plan or something?"

"here's the plan, we jump in there, kick these guy's asses for taking our girls, and then ride out of their like a couple of bosses!"

"you know, that's really not a good idea considering i've never been in af fight before!"

"you helped us fight those jerks the other day!"

"that wasn't fighting! that was me getting my ass kicked!" he stopped running as they got to the warehouse district, "look, all i'm saying is we barely even know what our powers are! and for all we know these guy's will hurt the girls as soon as we jump out."

"nah they won't," Nino said, "we answered their challenge, we're here."

"but we're supposed to keep our identities secret!" Nathanael exclaimed.

"Well then we charge in and start a fight before they can even know what's what." Nino said, "i ain't letting them hurt Alya."

Nathanael sighed, "why do i get the feeling we're about to get our asses kicked?" he asked,

"you have no faith in me." Nino said as he took a running start and jumped towards the building, pulling the shield/shell off his back and using it to soften the impact of crashing through a window.

"not subtle at all." Nathanael muttered in annoyance, running towards the edge, and jumping "YEEEEEAAAAAA-AAAAAGGGGGHHHH!" Nathanael's scream of elation turned into a yell of panic as he over shot and slammed into the wall; he started to fall, only to be saved by Nino, grabbing his leg and hauling him up.

"Dude!" Nino hissed, "are you trying to get us caught?"

"i think a window smashing is more likely to get us caught!" Nathanael snapped back.

'if this partnership is going to go anywhere, you need to trust me and follow my lead."

"this isn't a partnership!" Nathanael whispered fiercely, "This is us covering for Chat Noir and Ladybug because apparently they can't make it!"

"we're the B-Team man, we got this." Nino said, turning towards the door, "lets go."

Nathanael sighed and followed him, pulling the bow off of his back, he trailed down the hallway, trying to keep up with Nino as he all but ran down the halls.

"i think they're in the main room." Nino muttered as they came to a catwalk, "I hear talking."

Nathanael nodded, pulling a arrow out, "I can cover you from here if you want to take a look." he whispered.

"do you know how to use that thing?" Nino asked, narrowing his eyes.

"of course!" Nathanael said, shifting under his scrutinizing gaze, "sorta-i shot one over the summer last year while at camp."

"were you any good?"

"I was…decent…"

"decent?"

"I hit just outside of the bullseye, no one else could even that close…"

Nino looked at him, "please don't hit me on accident." he said as he jumped over the side, Nathanael got in position, looking down into the room as Turtle looked around, "see anything?" he whispered loudly.

"trashed machines…cut rope…i don't see any sign of the girls or the Akuma's."

Nathanael scanned the area, "they tell us to come here, then they don't show up? what game-LOOK OUT!" he shouted as a smokey figure appeared behind Nino, who instantly sprang away when Nathanael shouted.

"Fast on your feet." Smoke said, "impressive.

Nathanael started loosing arrows, catching smoke once in the shoulder before smoking out, letting the last three hit the ground harmlessly.

"nice shot!" Nino shouted.

"i was aiming for his leg." he said said in disappointment.

"shouldn't have said that." Nino muttered, "where did he go?"

"don't know." he said, looking around, then felt his spine tingle, he jumped over the railing a split second before a knife cut through it, nicking his shoulder.

"Damn, almost had him." Scorn said, lazily dropping down after Nathanael, who was now at Turtles side, glaring at Scorn.

"These aren't the guys we were waiting for." Smoke said, materializing by Scorn.

Scorn smirked, "Well, if these two costumed freaks are here, then Ladybug and Chat Noir can't be far behind, and those two idiots are probablyy slinking around here looking for their lady friends, so lets take care of these two; and then we gut the bug and the cat."

Nino looked at Nathanael, "these guy's are serious aren't they?"

"you think?" Nathanael snapped, nocking an arrow and loosing it at Smoke as the Akuma disappeared, Turtle raised his shield and blocked an attack from Scorn, grunting as the knife wielding maniac pushed him back.

"lets get the party started!"


	11. the wolf and the Turtle

Nino ducked underneath Scorn's knife, slamming the rim of his shield into his stomach and sending him back, he raised the shield as the knife flew right at him, sticking into the shield, "come on man! i just got this!" he snapped, wincing when Scorn slammed into him, pulling the knife free and slashing at Nino's neck, Nino jumped back, kicking the arm back and retreating further as Scorn tried to advance.

on the other side of the room Nathanael was fighting for his life. the arrows he shot simply ghosting through Smoke, relocating fast as the whispy akuma attempted to suffocate him as he had done the girls.

"this is getting ridiculous!" Nathanael snapped at Nino, as they went back to back.

"you're telling me, can't get a swing in edge wise!" Nino said, "i don't remember Ladybug and Chat Noir having trouble with Akuma's.

"yeah, they don't usually get-DUCK!" Nathanael yelped hitting the ground.

"what?" Nino asked in confusion a split second before Smoke's boot hit him in the side of the head, sending him flying across the room.

"don't you know not to talk during a fight!?" Scorn snarled, swinging his knife at Nathanael, who quickly blocked it with the wood of his bow as Smoke started to coil around Nino,

"Turtle!" Nathanael called out as he threw Scorn back, his eyes searching the cloud of smoke surrounding him, looking for anything that could help them, a bright red ember floating through it caught his eye and without even thinking he nocked an arrow and let it fly, the pointed tip hit the ember and suddenly Smoke reappeared to the left of letting out a startled gasp as he clutched at the arrow in his shoulder.

"nice shot," Nino coughed, charging at Smoke and slamming his shield into the injured Akuma and sending him flying back into the wall.

Scorn growled and charged once more, "i'm going to gut you two like fish!" he snarled.

Smoke slowly got up, pulling the arrow out of his shoulder, "I'm starting to agree with you," smoke said, gliding towards Nino once more.

"aim for that red ember!" Nathanael shouted at Nino as he jumped over Scorn, loosing more arrows at the knife wielding akuma, who quickly blocked and cut all the arrows flying at him.

"that i can do." Nino muttered, charging at the wraith like Akuma, shield at the ready.

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Hawkmoth was doing all he could to keep his two Akuma under his influence.

the decision to create two Akuma instead of one had been a split second decision that he was sure he could pull off, until Scorn stabbed Adrien's teacher during their small confrontation.

 _What have you done boy!"_ he had exclaimed, _"killing a bystander so flippantly? do you realize-"_

" _Yes i realize,"_ scorn had said back to him, " _and i don't care, bitch got in the way."_

that should've been the point where Hawkmoth took his Akuma from him, but instead he allowed the boy to go on, thinking he could keep him from harming anyone else…

but when the two new Miraculous wielders appeared in the factory and Hawkmoth attempted to steer his two akuma away from them, Scorn Immediately moved to confront them, Smoke hesitantly following Scorns lead. throughout the ensuing fight he had to keep both Scorn and Smoke from accidentally and purposefully killing the two green superheroes, even going as far as to make Smoke's weakness stand out more then it had before. but when Smoke took an Arrow to his shoulder and became even more invested in the fight, Hawkmoth found his control slipping, now he was pracitcally screaming in their heads to disengage.

"Scorn! Smoke! what do you think you two are doing!" he roared, slamming his cane into the ground, "these two are distractions! Ladybug and Chat Noir are probably setting an ambush for you as we speak! disengage and leave the factory!"

" _these two attack us and you want us to run!?"_ Scorn snarled back, _"No, the only way this fight ends is if we lose our akuma's or they die!"_

" _while i don't agree with Scorns end game, I refuse to turn and run" Smoke said, his voice calmer, but with almost the same conviction, "we'll deal with the bug and the cat when they come along."_

"disengage or i rip your Akuma's from you myself." Hawkmoth threatened, his fists clenching in anger and worry.

" _up yours Hawkmoth." Scorn drawled. Smoke said nothing, but Hawkmoth could feel his defiance through the connection._

"you leave me no choice." Hawkmoth muttered, reaching out two his two Akuma's trapped inside their objects, he knew this was potentially dangerous, that it could cause damage to not only the Possessed boys, but also himself, but he steeled himself and went to take hold of them, only for a burst of magical energy to shoot from them and not only sever his connection, but also send him flying back from the feedback.

"GAAAARGH!" Gabriel screamed as he slammed into the side of his lair, his transformation dropping as Nooroo popped out of the Brooch.

"Master!" Nooroo exclaimed weakly, slowly crawling towards Gabriel.

"Nooroo…what…happened?" Gabriel asked as he slowly sat up with a grunt of pain, the hand that had been clutching his cane was red and raw, as if he had touched a hot stove.

"the Akuma's hold on their victim's are too strong." Nooroo mumbled, collapsing against Gabriel's thigh, "they weren't being sustained by you anymore, so when you tried to pull them-"

"They defended themselves…" Gabriel muttered, slowly reaching over and picking Nooroo up, putting him on his shoulder while he went into his pocket and pulled a small sugar cube out, "recharge Nooroo, we need to try and stop these Akuma before…." Gabriel trailed off, worried about what two Akuma filled with rage and bloodlust could do without him controlling them.

"i understand master…" Nooroo said dutifully, eating the cube as quickly as he could.

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Lila and Alya snuck through the abandoned factory, looking for any way to get out, "half the exits are locked down tight, the other half are covered in so much trash and crap that we won't get through." she looked down at the glass shards that had once been her phone screen. _and of course, we can't call for help._

"we could always break a window and jump out." Lila suggested, coughing slightly.

"most of them have bars over the windows…the rest are too high for us to jump from." Alya groaned, "How the hell are we gonna get out of here?"

Lila shrugged, "maybe we can start to pull on those bars and-" She stopped as they both heard a groan, "what…was that?"

"sounds like someone else is here." Alya said, walking towards a closed door, where another groan sounded, she took a deep breath and kicked the door open, the old, rotted wood swinging open easily with a crack! "who's in here!" Alya shouted, looking around the dark room.

"wha…" a voice grunted, making Alya turn to the right, looking at a figure that was tied to a thick metal pipe, "Cesaire? Rossi?" he asked, "is…what…what the hell are you two doing here!?"

"Jaune?" Alya asked in surprise.

"yeah, it's me." he muttered, his face was bruised and his left arm was bloody, "Care to cut me loose?"

ALya hesitated, "why are you here?" she asked in suspicion.

"luring you into a trap." he grumbled sarcastically, making her bristle, "Pierre and Franc tied me up in here."

"who the hell is Pierre and Franc?" Lila asked.

"There my friends," Jaune muttered, "well…they were until they got akumatized.'

"What!" Alya exclaimed, "You're telling me that Scorn and Smoke are your buddies!?"

"Were." Jaune growled, "they got akumatized and tied me up in here so i couldn't warn anyone."

Alya sighed and started hacking at the ropes, "Do you know where the akumatized objects are?"

"Pierre's cigarette, and Franc's knife." Jaune said as he stood up and rubbed his rope burned wrists, "is Chat Noir and Ladybug here?"

as if on cue, the wall behind them exploded as Nino flew through it, curled up behind his shield as he slammed into the pipes that Jaune had just been tied to, "ow my back…" he groaned as he slowly got back up. Scorn slowly swaggering in, twirling his knife.

"well, well, well, so this is where our escaped mice came to?" Scorn asked, laughing, "and here i was thinking i had to hunt you two down when i finished with this two bit hero." he threw his knife towards Alya, who shut her eyes tightly, reflexively flinching as the blade flew.

"No!" Nino shouted, jumping in front of the knife and slamming it to the side with his shield, "you won't lay a finger on her!" he snarled as he charged forward, slamming the shield into the akuma's face and sending him flying back.

"who the hell…" Lila whispered, looking at Alya, who was staring in shock, "was that?"

"it…i…don't know." Alya said.

"well, whoever it is, we need to let him know where the Akuma is!" Jaune snapped, going for the knife.

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Nino wrestled with Scorn on the ground, slamming his shield into the akuma whenever he could.

"getting kind of touchy about the girl aren't ya?" Scorn sneered, throwing Nino across the hall, he held his hand up, making the knife fly towards him, Jaune clutching the handle.

"NO!" ALya and Lila shouted, grabbing onto Jaune's legs and trying to pull him back, slowly being dragged towards the Akuma.

Nino charged once more,slamming his shield against the Akuma's chest and sending him flying out towards the main room of the warehouse, where Nathanael and Smoke were still trading blows.

"I'm starting to think there's a connection between you two." Scorn chuckled as he slowly sat up, his knife still trying to fly towards him, Alya and Lila doing all they could to keep a hold of Jaune.

Turtle charged once more, swinging his fist at Scorn, who simply jumped over him and slammed his heavy booted foot into the back of Turtles head, ""once i'm done skinning you, she's next." Scorn growled. turning back and summoning his knife once more, this time the girls grip on Jaune failed and the teen was quickly dragged forward as Scorn regained his knife, "you should've stayed in your room." Scorn said, kicking Jaune in the chest, only to scowl as the teen refused to let go, "little maggot!" he snarled, slamming his foot repeatedly into Jaune's stomach, "first you refuse to get back at those shitty underclassmen, then you attempt to stop us, and now you WON'T LET GO!"

"Scorn! enough!" Smoke shouted, disengaging from Nathanael and running towards him as Jaune let go of the knife and scorn plunged it down towards the dazed teen.

"NO!" Smoke shouted, barreling into Scorn and knocking him through a wall as Nathanael skidded to a halt by Jaune, "you alright?" he asked the downed kid.

"not really." Jaune groaned, coughing up blood.

"we need to get him out of here." Nathanael said, looking at Nino as he walked over, Lila and Alya right behind him.

"what about the akuma's?" Nino asked.

"they're busy fighting each other right now, we should be able to sneak them away and then come back to finish them off."

"okay, hold up you two." Alya said, striding forward, "who are you?"

the two boys looked at each other nervously, "um…i'm Turtle…Jade Turtle." Nino said quickly.

"and i'm Grey Wolf." Nathanael said.

"where's Ladybug and Chat Noir?" Alya asked.

"and where's Nino and Nathanael?" Lila questioned, "those two were real eager to find those two."

"they're…uh…" Nino hesitated, wondering what excuse he could come up with to pacify his girlfriend and Lila.

"currently knocked out!" Nathanael exclaimed, "when-when they wouldn't listen to Chat and Ladybug and stay put, we had to-knock them out to keep them safe."

"uh-yeah!" nino said, backing up his fellow hero/bro, "and Ladybug and Chat had another…mission to take care of. so that's why we're here."

Alya gave both superheroes a hard look before walking over to Jaune, "Lila, help me get him up, we'll get him out of here while these two go take care of the Akuma's."

Lila nodded and got on the otherside of Jaune, together the two helped him up, "Stay safe you two." Lila said, looking at Nathanael with concern in her eyes.

"Yeah, try not to do anything stupid." Alya said, "hate to have to come back and bail you two out."

"like that'll ever happen." Nino said with a grin as the girls slowly made their way out, dragging Jaune along with them.

"Do you…think we fooled them?" Nino asked Nathanael.

"oh yeah, they have no idea." he said, "now lets go take down those Akuma's."

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Smoke threw Scorn across the room, quickly gliding after him and covering him in a choking fog, only to retreat as his knife swiped at the ember.

"Why the hell are you attacking me Smoke!" Scorn growled, twirling the knife in his hands. "our mission is to defeat those losers and get Ladybug and Chat Noir's Miraculous."

"i won't do it if it means killing not only innocents but our own friend!" smoke snarled. reforming and charging, his arms changing to smoke.

"you get in my way i'll kill you too!" Scorn snapped, his knife cutting through the air, slashing Smoke across the chest and kicking him back, he threw his knife and pinned Smoke to the ground by the shoulder, the pale akuma letting out a shrill scream of pain as he clutched at the knife, "keep down brother," Scorn growled, planting a foot on his chest, "can't phase out of that knife," he knelt down and started reaching for the cigarette still clutched in Smokes mouth.

"incoming!" Turtle shouted barreling into the room and slamming into scorn while Wolf charged in, firing arrows at the knife wielding akuma.

"you alright?" Wolf Asked, pulling the knife out of his shoulder.

"Fine." Smoke sat up as Wolf broke the knife on his thigh, the blade shattered and Turtle jumped up and caught the butterfly, "got it!" Turtle said gleefully as he concentrated, his hands glowing white as he purified the akuma.

"NO!" Scorn wailed as he fell to his knee, his powers slowly leaving him as he changed back to a teenaged boy in a t-shirt and jeans.

"isn't this one of the guys we-i mean-Nino and Nathanael fought?" Turtle asked.

"guess we know why they turned now." Wolf said, turning to look at Smoke, who was now standing and watching them, "so, you gonna give up your Akuma? or are you going to try and fight us?"

Smoke slowly reached up and pulled the cigarette out from between his lips, blowing a smoke cloud out, "hmm…well, Hawkmoth hasn't talked to me for about forty-five minutes, and i don't care about any rings or earrings…" he put the cigarette in his mouth once more, taking one more drag, before flicking it towards Wolf's feet, he quickly crushed it, releasing the butterfly for Turtle to purify.

"last time i agree with a psycho and a puppet master." Smoke muttered as he slowly reverted back to his teenage self, leather jacket smelling of smoke and a bruise on his chin, he pushed his long brown hair out of his face as he looked about in confusion.

"we won…" Turtle said, looking at Wolf with a grin, "Duuuuuude…"

"We didn't win." Wolf muttered as he watched the confused Akuma Victim slowly walk over to his friend, helping him off the ground, "Smoke gave up, turned against Scorn…"

"still, we managed to hold them off, and we didn't die so…" he held out a hand, "good work Grey Wolf." he put extra emphasis on the name, making Wolf grin.

"yeah, you too, jade turtle." he said, clasping the pro-offered hand. they let go as the two Akuma victims slowly walked up.

"hey…do you two know what the hell's going on here?" the one formerly known as Smoke asked as he pulled a cigarette out and put it between his lips.

"you two were Akumatized." Turtle said.

"Fuck…was anyone hurt?"

"other then him breaking Jaune's ribs, stabbing Madam Bustier, and possible smoke damage to two young girls, no one got hurt." Wolf said, glaring at the still wobbly boy being supported by the smoker.

"Damn it Franc what the hell!" he shouted, shaking his friend roughly.

"Shut it Pierre," Franc muttered, glaring at his friend, "Not like i knew what was going on, for all we know, Hawkmoth made me."

Pierre just continued to glare at him, "how do we get out of here, i'm sure there's several people looking for us."

"we'll lead you out," Turtle said, "Just follow us."

the four boys started to walk out into the decrepit hallways of the factory, Wolf and Turtle behind the two Akuma victims in case they stumbled, as they got to the exit, the familiar glow of the Miraculous cure washed over them.

"ladybug must have made an appearance." Wolf said with a smile as he watched the damage they had cause fix almost instantly.

"think Madam Bustier got healed?" Franc asked, looking very worried as they walked out of the building to see Police and EMS surrounding the building.

"doubt it." Turtle said as he looked over to one of the EMS units where they were loading Jaune onto a stretcher.

Franc seemed to deflate his head falling slightly, "i knew i was angry but…i didn't…i didn't think…" he started.

"Don't worry," Wolf said, giving Franc what he hoped was a reassuring smile, "i'm sure they won't arrest you for it." he stopped and said, "Well, guess you two are on your own now, keep your noses clean." Wolf pulled an arrow out of his quiver, a length of chord tied to it's end, he shot it off towards a nearby building fumbling to catch the end of it before it got away from him, "Hehe….still practicing." Wolf said, pulling on it and swinging away, Turtle quickly latching onto his leg as the chord retracted.

"LATER DUDES!" Turtle shouted as the two heroes crashed into the building, pausing for only a few seconds before scaling the wall, as soon as they were on the roof top, turtle looked at Wolf with a raised eyebrow, "really bro? 'keep your noses clean'?"

"it was the only thing i could think of." Nathanael said defensively as they started walking across the roof, "at least i had somewhat of a plan to get out of there."

"yeah, except you almost lost the line, and you slammed us into the side of a building, i'll give you an A for effort, but a D for execution."

"it would have gone better if you hadn't latched onto my leg and almost pulled it out of it's socket!" Wolf snapped as the jumped the gap between the building they were on and the next, "seriously, what made you think i was going to drag your ass with me."

"What did you want me to do? walk through the police line and stroll on down the street whistling a tune?" Turtle asked, "Your way was quicker and less awkward."

"we can leap tall buildings in a single bound! you could've just jumped out of there!"

"but your way was cooler!" Turtle shouted, stopping beside a chimney.

Wolf rounded on him, "who cares if it looked cooler! he snapped, "i'd of rather looked lame instead of you almost dislocating my leg and making us slam into a wall!"

"not my fault you didn't account for my weight!"

"Dude-"

"man you guy's argue like an old married couple,"

the familiar voice of Chat made the two stop arguing and look up at the chimney to see the leather-clad superhero perched on the smoke stack, looking down at the two in amusement, "first day as superheroes and you two are already so close."

"where the hell have you been!" Wolf and Turtle both exclaimed.

"hey! don't yell, my ears are a hell of a lot more sensitive then yours." Chat said, wincing slightly as he jumped down, "and i was getting lectured by Fu on several things, only got permission to leave about five minutes ago."

"well you missed one hell of a fight man." Turtle said, "you should have seen us, we were going toe to toe with these guy's, arrows flying, shield throwing, people getting thrown through walls."

"i'm sure i'll see it all on the ladyblog." Chat said with an amused eyeroll.

"just what i need." Wolf lamented, "everyone in Paris to see us flounder."

"whatever man we were awesome." Turtle said, putting his hands behind the back of his head.

"Chat!" Ladybug called as she swung onto the rooftop, breathing heavily, "you found them." she gasped as she walked up to him.

"M'Lady, i thought Master Fu told you to wait." Chat asked worriedly, quickly walking up to her to support her.

"hated waiting." she said, looking at Wolf and Turtle, "so…you….you two are the new heroes huh?" she struggled out.

"yeah, Jade Turtle and Grey wolf…are you alright LB?" Turtle asked,

"Yeah…you seem…out of breath." Nathanael said in concern.

"Just…a little, under the weather." she breathed out, slowly catching her breath.

"should probably head home M'lady. " Chat said gently, putting a hand on her shoulder, he turned to Wolf and Turtle, "you two should get down to the street, go take care of things,."

"thought we had to go see Fu." wolf muttered.

"Yeah, don't we have to…turn these in or something?" Turtle sked gesturing to his bracelet.

"he said it could wait til tomorrow." Chat said, "besides, there's two girls you two need to go see."

"oh shit you're right!" Turtle exclaimed, "Good meeting you LB see ya Chat!" he shouted as he jumped over to the next building and disappeared into the alley, Wolf sighing and slowly walking to the edge of the building.

"see you two later." he muttered as he jumped down into the Alley way closest.

Ladybug sighed and leant into Chat, "they're going to be the new heroes huh?" she asked sadly.

"they'll help," Chat said gently, putting his arms around her, "you heard what Master Fu said, too much strain could hurt the baby."

"I know…but still…"

"you won't be completely on the sidelines." he said, giving her a soft kiss "you'll still be helping."

she hummed quietly. looking back towards the factory with sad eyes.

"Come on m'lady." Adrien said, pickign her up, "lets get you home."

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Nino and Nathanael quickly ran towards the factory, "you think they'll be mad?" Nino asked, "i mean, we didn't technically show."

"doubtful, i think they have bigger things on their mind." Nathanael muttered as they finally reached the factory, the cops were still milling about and an EMS unit was parked a few yards away, Alya and Lila were sitting on it's bumper, being looked over by two paramedics. "Alya!" Nino shouted, picking up his pace.

"Nino." Alya said in relief as she saw her boyfriend run up to her, she quickly stood up and threw her arms around him as he basically crashed into her.

"are you alright?" he asked, pulling back a little and looking her over, for the first time noticing the scrapes, cuts and bruises that covered his girlfriend, he also noticed for the first time that when she talked her voice was slightly raspy, possibly from the smoke inhalation.

"Fine except for this cut." she said, lifting her left hand up, it was bandaged heavily.

"what happened!?"

"i…broke my phone screen and used the shards from it to cut the rope around my wrists." she said.

Nino gave her a disbelieving look, "babe…you are so hardcore." he said, making her laugh as he leaned in to kiss her.

Nathanael raised an eyebrow at the two before nervously approaching Lila, who was still sitting on the ambulance, a blanket around her shoulders, 'Hey." he said awkwardly.

"hey…' she said quietly, like Alya she too was covered in scrapes and cuts, her voice slightly rough.

"um…are…you ok?" he asked, scratching the back of his head.

"i'm fine." she said with a small smile.

"i…i'm sorry you got sucked into this." he said.

"It wasn't your fault Nath-"

"but it was." he said, "those guys were the ones me, Nino and Adrien fought the other day, they wanted to get back at us…so they went after you and Alya."

"Nath." Lila said with a sigh of exasperation, "you weren't the one who akumatized them, and at any rate they shouldn't have let some stupid fight take that much control over their life."

"But-" he started, only stopping when Lila stood up and put her hands on his cheeks.

"It wasn't your fault," she said again, an air of finality in her words, "and if you keep blaming yourself, i'm going to punch you in the face."

Nathanael smiled slightly, "alright," he said.

"hate to interrupt," one of the paramedics said, walking up to the two, "but they want us to take these two in for the night; simply for observation." he added hastily at the look on both Nathanael's and Lila's face, "they're fine but after all that happened with that boy and the teacher…"

"I understand,' Lila said, "but will i be able to contact my family?"

"they should have already been contacted." he said, "probably waiting for you at the hospital."

she smiled, "that's good, thank you." she turned back to Nathanael, "i'll…see you tomorrow." she said.

"yeah…tomorrow." he said with a smile as he watched a paramedic gently help her into the back of the Ambulance, he took a couple of steps back, gently nudging Nino as the Paramedics walked towards the still intertwined couple.

"Nath…" Lila called, hesitating slightly.

"Yeah?" he asked, taking a step forward.

"tomorrow…do you want to meet me at the Louvre? there's…someone i want you to meet…"

"sure thing," he said immediately, "how does five sound? we can eat at a cafe that's close by."

she smiled, "that sounds great." she said.

Alya nudged Nathanael as she walked back, "smooth killer." she said, giving him a wink as she climbed into the back of the ambulance. "see you guys later." Alya said, all but collapsing into her seat with a tired sigh.

"i'll go by tomorrow Alya!" Nino called as the Paramedics closed the doors, "promise!" he smiled as the ambulance drove away. "so," Nino started as he looked at the young Artist, "you and Lila huh?"

"we're just friends." Nathanael said, blushing brightly as he turned around and started walking.

"riiiight, so me and ALya didn't just here you making date plans with her?" Nino asked innocenty as he walked alongside Nathanael.

"they weren't date plans! just two friends getting together for a nice day out."

"hate to break it to you, but that's called a date." Lucia said, flying out of his hair.

"oh come on! you're on his side?" Nathanael complained, glaring at the small wolf.

"yep! and i so approve, that Lila girl is very cute." Lucia sang, flying around his head.

"Lucia, please hide yourself, we're still in public." Wayzz said, poking his head out of Nino's pocket."

"oh right! sorry!" Lucia said quickly, flying back into Nathanaels hair as he scowled.

"dude relax, i'm just poking' fun." Nino said, nudging Nathanael good naturally, "but oyu have to admit, Lila is a cutie, and she totally digs you!"

"doubtful," Nathanael muttered.

"Come on man-"

"Just drop it Nino! anyways what are we going to do now?" Nathanael asked, trying to change the subject.

"well, Adrien did say we had to go see Fu tomorrow, so i say we go catch some Z's and go see the girls early in the morning before heading to see the old man."

"sounds good," Nathanael said, turning down a different street, "I'll see you tomorrow."

"see ya bro! don't stay up all night thinking of Lila!"

"up yours dude!"


	12. the dream team

Gabriel drummed his fingers on his desk, "we can't allow what happened yesterday to happen again Nooroo," he said, glaring down at his desk.

"Yes sir." Nooroo said solemnly.

"Not only did the Akuma's get out of control, they almost killed two people, if that were to happen again with a more powerful akuma…" he took a breath and sighed, "and you aren't the only one to blame for this." he muttered, "I lost control of them...i wasn't strong enough to handle two akuma's…" he looked down, pinching the bridge of his nose with his right hand.

"I've told you before, using too much energy while making Akuma weakens your hold on them. Making two was just beyond you."

Gabriel scratched his chin, "Perhaps…it's time to look for the gems.."

"Master, the gems have been missing for hundreds of years, even the guardians of the miraculous didn't know here they were."

"Then we put a good effort into finding them." Gabriel said, "and until then, we will cut back on the amount of Akuma we send out."

"If you're sure Master." Nooroo said, flying into his pocket as Natalie walked in.

"Yes Natalie?" Gabriel asked, straightening up in his chair.

"I have a message from Mayor Bourgeois." she said, "he'd like to talk with you over lunch."

"Tell him i'm busy natalie." he said, turning his computer on.

"He said it's urgent, something about transport permits."

Gabriel raised an eyebrow, "Very well, inform him i will be arriving in a few hours time, until then, i'm not to be disturbed."

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Marinette looked up at the ceiling, trying to calm her breathing as Master Fu ran his hands over her stomach.

"Try to stop squirming please." he said with a smile.

"Sorry." she said, taking a deep breath, "Just a little nervous."

"Don't be," he said gently, "the baby is healthy, i'm just double checking. We wouldn't want to overlook anything."

"Right." she said.

"Hmm...alright then, you can sit up." he said, pulling his hands away from her.

"How's the baby?" she asks as she sits up.

"It's doin well," the old man said with a smile, "the transformation shouldn't affect it too much until the second trimester, for now, you can continue your work as Ladybug, though I do recommend you take it easy; we wouldn't want anything to happen to this child."

"Right." Marinette said with a nod, "thank you Master Fu."

"Think nothing of it child," He beamed, "I will always help my protege when they need me." he stood up and made his way towards his kitchen, "would you like some tea? I'm sure we'll be waiting just a bit longer for Adrien to show up.

"I'd love some tea." she said as he walked out, "was this all you wanted to discuss with us Master Fu?" Marinette questioned.

"No, we have several things to discuss, however some of them will be requiring Adrien's Input, i just wanted to get that small examination out of the way so we can move on to other, equally important things." he walked back in with a tray with a teapot and cups on it, setting it down between the two of them, "now, has Tikki told you of the plan for when you get too far along in your pregnancy?"

"She said she'll be able to perform the cure on her own." Marinette said.

"Yes, she will be, though i'm sure she told you she'll only have thirty minutes in that form?"

"Yes sir."

This means we'll have to find a suitable substitute to help Chat Noir in his battles, or perhaps find two, considering he will be with you almost every step of the way."

"He does like to stick close in case i need anything." Marinette hummed with a smile, "I think right now has been the longest he's been away from me and that's only because he had a photo shoot."

"Exactly, so we need another team to cover for the both of you when you can't transform and when Chat Noir can't leave you, i'm sure you've already met the two I chose last night?"

"Yes, they're a little rough around the edges, but i'm sure me and Adrien were worse when we started out."

Fu chuckled at that, "yes, you two were quite the pair, not even knowing what was going on, just thrown head first into a battle; much like these two. They do, however, have an advantage over you two, they know each others identities."

"Still surprises me that you gave a miraculous to both Nino and Nathanael." Marinette said.

"Yes it was an emergency, if it had been anything less i would have only given Nino the Turtle Miraculous." he shook his head, "as it is, i don't think those two will make the best of teams, so i-" he stopped talking as the door opened and Adrien walked in followed by Nathanael and Nino, "speak of the devils." he said, "how are you boys today."

"We're good master Fu," Nino said as Adrien and Marinette greeted each other with a kiss, their Kwami's flying off into the rafters together.

"And how are your two friends?"

"Hospital said they'd release them in a couple of hours." Nathanael said as they all sat down.

"Good, good, you two had quite the adventure last night."

"They sure did!" Luciia exclaimed, flying out of Nathanael's hair, "they put up a real good fight!"

"And managed to not do too much damage to the city." Wayzz said, poking his head out of Nino's bag.

"You should have seen us," Nino said to Adrien, "we were like Jackie Chan and Robin hood! Jumping rooftop to rooftop! Breaking through windows, rescuing the girls,defeating the akuma's, it was great man!"

"Didn't you slam into a wall like...three times?" Adrien asked, making marinette giggle.

"Only twice!" Nathanael defended.

"And we technically didn't defeat the Akuma's." Luciia said, "they turned against each other." 

"They did, did they?" Fu asked with an interesting gleam in his eye.

"Yeah," nino said, deflating a bit, "Smoke saw Scorn just wailing on Jaune, so he tackled him and they went off fighting into another room, we got there in time to get Scorn's knife away and purify it...before you know...smoke handed us his Akuma…"

"That is...interesting." Fu said, "never have i heard of an Akuma turning on it's own. And never has it ever been reported that they would willingly give up their akuma...hawkmoth must have over extended himself when creating those two." he looked at them, "and how did you two feel fighting alongside each other?"

"It was awesome." nino exclaimed.

"It was horrible." nathanael muttered, "nino kept charging in head first like he was some kind of tank! Almost got us killed several times!"

"Oh don't start that again dude! We did great fighting against the akuma's!"

"We didn't have a plan, we were just reacting to their attacks. And we got lucky when they started attacking each other, if it had been an akuma like the ones Ladybug and Chat Noir usually face, we would have died."

"Come on man, you're being waaay too serious."

"He's correct." Fu said, making all four teens stiffen, "fighting akuma isn't about hammering away at them until they fall, it is about planning, coordinating and executing the plan. If you had done what you did last night against a foe like Stoneheart, we wouldn't be having this discussion." he turned to Marinette, "which is why i propose we bring in another, familiar, face."

"Really?" Marinette asked, looking both confused and excited.

"Really," he said with a smile, "and this time, it is your call on whether or not to reveal your true identity...but before we go further." he turned to Nathanael, "we need to discuss your miraculous."

"Are you asking for it back?" Nathanael asked, tensing slightly, Luciia darting back into his hair.

"I'm not leaving him! I've already declared him mine and have marked my territory!" Luciia declared.

"You did what?" Nathanael asked in confusion.

"Nothing."

"I'm not going to take Luciia away from you." Fu said with a chuckle, "you two will be staying together for the foreseeable future, however, you won't be going out to face Akuma as much as Nino will, you will be a reserve member of this little hero squad."

"I am?" he asked, slightly thankful, slightly offended.

"Yes, because the next Miraculous we will be using is one that is almost always paired with the Turtle."

"Oh no…" Wayzz whispered, catching Nino's attention.

"Will you be fine standing in reserve until needed?" Fu asked nathanael.

"Definitely." Nathanael said with a smile.

"Please tell me your not pulling who I think you are." Wayzz groaned, making Adrien look at him.

"Now, Marinette, i want you to take the Fox Miraculous-" 

"NO!" Wayzz wailed, making everyone look at the small kwami, "Master please! Not Trixx!" he begged, flying up to Master Fu.

"You didn't have a problem with her coming out last time." Fu said in amusement.

"I didn't have to work with her last time! You know how she gets!"

"Yes i do, but she's the best partner for you."

"But...but…"

"No but's Wayzz," Master Fu said sternly, "this is the choice I have made."

"Yes Master…" Wayzz said dejectedly, slowly flying back to Nino and landing on his shoulder.

"Now,' Master Fu said, looking at both Nino and Nathanael, "are there any questions?"

"Uh…" Nino started, raising his hand.

"Yes Nino?"

"Who's...who's gonna be...you know...my partner and stuff…"

Master Fu looked at marinette and they both smiled.

"What? Come on man tell me!" Nino exclaimed, "i don't want to act like Wayzz and be all bummed and depressed because I don't like my partner!"

"Either you will figure out for yourself, or you'll find out when you get one of these two to cave, which i doubt will happen." Fu said with a chuckle "I recommend you do it soon, there's no guarantee that Hawkmoth will wait before his next attack."

Marinette nodded, slowly standing up, Adrien right beside her,"I'll drop you off,." Adrien said, "got a Shoot around there; see you guy's later." he said Giving Nino a pat on the back.

"Can i leave too Master Fu?" Nathanael asked "I got a...uh...something important to do."

"Talking about his date.' Nino snickered.

"Not a date!"

"Is too!"

"Enough both of you!" Fu said sternly, his eyes alight with amusement. "Yes you are free to go, but i have some things i want to discuss with you Mr. Lahiff."

"Really?" Nino asked worriedly.

"Relax, it's actually about something that you may be interested in, a possible job."

"I'll leave you to it." Nathanael said with a grin. Walking out while Fu and Nino started to talk animatedly.

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Marinette slowly walked into Alya's hospital room, where the girl was getting dressed.

"Hey Girl!" Alya greeted as she buttoned up her shirt, "what are you doing here? I thought we were going to meet at your house?"

"There's been a small change of plans." Marinette said with a sad smile, "Alya, i'm about to tell you a secret that can't leave this room."

"Come on, i know everything about you." Alya said with a laugh.

"I doubt it." Marinette mumbled as she slowly went into her pocket and pulled out a familiar jewelry box.

"Where...where did you get that?" Alya asked in surprise.

"The grand master entrusted it to me." she said, looking at the small box, "and told me to give it to someone who i think would be worthy of it." she looked at her best friend and smiled, "and once again, i choose you Alya." she held the box out.

"But...but Ladybug gave me this bef…" she stopped as her eyes widened as she gasped, "No!"

"Yes." Marinette said seriously.

"You're-"

"I am."

"The savior of-"

"I know."

Alya practically squealed as she threw her arms around her best friend and favorite superhero, 'I can't believe you're ladybug!" she practically shouted.

"Alya! Calm down!" Marinette whispered urgently, 'I don't think these walls are soundproof!"

"Sorry!" she said in a quieter voice, "I just...i can't believe it! It explains sooo much! Like how you always disappear during Akuma attacks and why you're always late and-"

"Alya, i'm going to need you to calm down." Marinette said gently.

"Sorry.' she said, taking a deep breath, "it's just...you know how long i've been dying to find out your identity! All the research and work i put into it, and i was thinking it was mireille!"

"Mireille? Really?" Marinette asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I know!" she groaned, "girl...how do you do it? You're one of the busiest people I know!"

"It's not easy." she said with a small smile, "half the time I'm pulling my hair out in frustration, the other half i'm failing classes and showing up late."

Alya shook her head, "Well now we can totally work together! Go on patrols, fight akuma's and...and you can't do that...because you're pregnant." she said,

Marinette smiled sadly, "yeah, it's one of the reasons i didn't show up to last nights fight...and why the Grand Master wanted me to give you this." she once again held up the jewelry box, "so you can help keep Paris safe while I'm absent."

Alya gently took the box, "you're lucky i'm the greatest Godmother and maid of honor in the world." she said teasingly.

Marinette smiled tiredly, "congratulations Rena Rouge, on becoming a full time hero and member of team Miraculous."

"Team miraculous?" she asked in amusement.

She blushed, "It was Chat's idea…" she muttered, "anyways, you'll be taking over the majority, Chat and I will be helping you and Turtle as much as we can, wolf will jump in if things get that bad or if I can't help at all."

"Sounds like we got all this figured out." Alya said, opening the box and grinning as Trixx shot out.

"FREEDOM!" the energetic fox shouted as she zoomed around the room before slamming into Alya's neck, hugging it fiercely, "you have no idea how much i've missed you!"

"Same to you trixx!" Alya giggled, running a hand over the kwami's head.

"Trixx!" Tikki exclaimed as she shot out from Marinette's bag.

"Tikki!" Trixx shouted gleefully, flying away from Alya and chasing Tikki around in the air, "haven't seen you since Rome fell! How are you!"

"I'm good! I can't believe it's been that long since we've seen each other! Oh we have so much to talk about!" Tikki gushed.

"I'm guessing the little red blur is your kwami?" Alya asked.

"Yes," Marinette said with a chuckle, "her name is Tikki, the Kwami of Creation."

Tikki quickly flew down and stopped in front of Alya, "it's very nice to officially meet you Alya." she said kindly, "you can't imagine how many times you came close to finding out her secret."

"Not close enough i'm guessing." Alya said good naturedly, "So what about Chat? Am i finding out about his secret identity any time soon?"

"I'll tell you that later...or you might figure it out on your own, either way, you'll know." Marinette said confidently.

"Whatever you say girl." Alya said with a laugh, "anything else i need to know?"

"I'll try and fill you in more later, right now lets head home, i'm exhausted!" 

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Gabriel tried his hardest to pay attention to Andre Bourgeois as the man prattled on and on about his daughter, the two were currently sitting in a private room inside the Hotel Grande Paris, the inevitable Lunch appointment.

"-and she's just so perfect in anything she sets her mind to!" the incompetent mayor gushed, "beautiful and-"

"Excuse me Monsieur la mayor." Gabriel started, "but what does this have to do with my permits?"

"Uh...n-nothing." he started hesitantly, "but it does have something to do with what i'm about to bring up." he pulled out a stack of papers and handed them to Gabriel, who quickly started reading over them.

"Marriage contracts?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I believe it would be in both of our interests if our children ended up together." he said happily, "not only will it secure our financial stability, but-"

"No." Gabriel said, pushing the papers back.

"E-excuse me?" he asked in confusion.

"I said, No." he said, leaning back, "my son is not a bargaining chip,nor do i have a say in who he decides to spend the rest of his life with, should you want to barter your daughter off that is your business, but i will do no such thing with my son."

"B-but this could help your sons reputation! Especially after getting that little whore of a commoner-"

"Do not insult my sons betrothed." Gabriel interrupted him, his voice cold, and shaking with barely contained fury, "you know neither the circumstances nor the young woman, and any slight against her, or my son is a slight against me."

"Honestly Gabe, what's there to understand? That some gold digging trollop is trying to cheat you out of hard earned money while your dense fool of a son-"

Gabriel slammed his fist against the table, making the plates on the table shake slightly, "be careful of how you speak about my family." he said coldly, making Andre close his mouth quickly, "whether you like it or not, monsieur la mayor, my son and his Fiancee will be married, and there is nothing i can do about that, there is nothing I want to do about that; and if you continue to push this issue then i'll find another city to base my headquarters in." 

Andre tensed at that, while not the only business in town, Agreste Fashion brought a large sum of revenue to the city, and himself, "you wouldn't." he said.

Gabriel leaned forward, his eyes narrowed as he growled out, "try me."

The two men stared each other down until andre seemingly backed down, letting his head fall.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I have previous engagements to take care of, unless you actually called me here to talk about permits."

Andre said nothing. So gabriel stood and started walking out.

"I'll tell them." Andre muttered, making Gabriel stop.

"Excuse me?"

"If you take your business, i'll tell the whole world who you really are, hawkmoth." Andre said, "I-I'll do it!" he said, trying to be brave.

Gabriel let out a cruel, cruel laugh, "and how will you explain that you know my identity?" he asked, turning around, "will you tell them that you made a deal with me? That you knew ever since the first time i sent my akuma out to possess someone? That you willingly put your daughter and the rest of paris in danger for the hopes of gaining a wish? I'm the Villain, they all know what i've done, they know i'm a deplorable man, who's destroyed and rearranged the city on a weekly basis, if i'm found out i doubt i'll ever be given leniency, but you? You who actually helped me carry it out? Who has purposely allowed not only his voters, but his own employees and friends get akumatized? I daresay you'd lose everything, thrown from your position in city hall and forced to relinquish your hold on this hotel much like i'd have to for my business; the only difference is that i have a son who can easily take over my corporation, while you have a spoiled brat who barely knows how to tie her shoes on her own." he turned back around and strode to the door, "this is the last time we will discuss this, and if you attempt to go back on our deal, i will make sure you will dearly regret it." Gabriel opened the door and stepped out, "have a good day, Monsieur La mayor." he said as he closed the door and slowly walked down the hall.

"That was very risky master." Nooroo said quietly from his hiding place. "M. Bourgeois may be a coward, but continue to treat him like this and he may do something drastic."

"I know Andre, he'd never do anything to jeopardize his reputation." he said as he stepped into the elevator and rode it down to ground level.

"And if he finds a way to protect his reputation?"

"Don't worry your little head Nooroo, that will never happen." Gabriel said as he stepped out and walked through the front doors, where Natalie waited with Theo Barbot, "natalie? Where's the Guerilla?" he asked.

"He's visiting an injured friend in the hospital." she said, "Monsieur Barbot will be your driver for today."

Gabriel looked over Theo, who shook slightly, he sniffed and stepped into the car, Natalie following close behind.

"I don't remember being informed of this." Gabriel said as Theo closed the door.

"I sent you his time off request yesterday, I received it back approved, so i assumed you knew." she said.

He hummed, looking at his assistant, "I do tend to over look things." he said, "has Adrien finished with the shoot?"

"Yes sir, he said he would like to go see Marinette tonight.' she said, looking at her tablet, "i assured him that I would bring it to your attention."

He nodded, "text him and inform him we will be dropping by momentarily to pick him up, we will head to the boulangerie patisserie as soon as he is in this vehicle."

"Sir?" she asked in confusion, "don't you have...work?"

"It can wait, i have yet to meet Mlle. dupain-cheng, and if she is to be married to my son, then it would be a good idea to meet her, don't you think."

Natalie nodded slightly, a small smile coming to her lips, "yes sir, i'll inform him immediately."

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Nathanael fidgeted nervously just outside the Louvre, glancing at his watch every few seconds.

"You look nervous."

Nathanael straightened up and smiled, "maybe a little bit," he said, looking up as Lila walked over, clad in a navy blue sundress, her hands clasped nervously in front of him, "but it looks like i'm not the only one nervous."

"Am i that obvious?" she asked with a small laugh.

"Only a little bit." Nathanael said, frowning slightly when he saw movement just behind her, "and who's that?"

Lila fidgeted slightly, "go ahead, step out and say hi." she said softly behind her.

Nathanael smiled slightly as a small girl looked around lila's leg, head full of frizzy hair and blue eyes staring at him curiously. "Hi." she said quietly.

"Hello," Nathanael greeted, squatting down a bit, "and what's your name?"

"Illiana," she mumbled.

"It's nice meeting you Illiana," Nathanael said, giving her a soft smile, "i'm Nathanael."

"Hi." she said cutely, hiding behind Lila again.

"She's shy when meeting new people." Lila explained as Nathanael stood up.

"I understand." he chuckled, "who is she? Your sister? Niece?"

"She's...my daughter." Lila said hesitantly.

"Your daughter…" Nathanael repeated, his smile dropping slightly, "your daughter."

She nodded, putting a comforting arm around her daughter.

"Is...so...so you're married?" Nathanael asked.

She shook her head, "No."

Nathanael nodded, "Well...this is...an interesting development." he said, running a hand through his hair.

Lila nodded slightly, "I...I thought it'd...I thought you'd want to know." she said softly.

Nathanael let out a breath, "well, how about lets walk by the park, get some Ice Cream." he said, giving her a smile, looking down at Illiana, "do you want Ice cream?"

Illiana looked at her mother, then to Nathanael, nodding vigorously.

"She wants Ice cream." Nathanael said, looking at Lila with a smile, "do you want Ice cream?"

Lila hesitated, then nodded, "Yeah, lets go get some Ice cream." she said.

The trio slowly made their way down the street, heading towards a small park, Illiana slowly crept her way towards Nathanael, looking up at the tall boy shyly as she slowly reached her free hand up to Nathanael's, giggling when Nathanael took her hand softly.

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"She's precious." Nathanael said as he watched Illiana play at the park, he and Lila sat on a bench, watching the little girl as she darted between other children and the jungle gym.

"She is," Lila agreed as she absentmindedly licked her ice cream cone, "she's one of the best things in my life."

Nathanael leaned back, "who's the father?" he asked.

Lila bit her lip, "someone who isn't around anymore." she said bitterly, "and i'm hoping to keep it like that."

Nathanael scooted over and hesitantly put an arm around her, Lila tensed slightly, then slowly relaxed and leaned into him, "You're taking this a lot better than i thought you would."

"How'd you think i'd take this?" he asked. 

"I don't know...fainting, yelling, running away…"

He started to chuckle, "wow, i must not have made a very good first impression if that's how you think i'd react." he chortled.

"I guess i was just overthinking it." she said, "all honesty, i'm not entirely sure why I was nervous about telling you about her…"

Nathanael nodded, "yeah...a little weird…not like i'm your boyfriend or anything."

"Right." Lila agreed, the two sat in companionable silence.

"Do you want me to be?"

"W-what?" Lila spluttered,pulling away from him slightly.

"Do...do you want me to be your boyfriend?" he asked hesitantly, "I mean...i'm not opposed to it...and...and we like spending time with each other...right?"

She nodded slowly, "right…" she leaned back into him, watching Illiana go down the slide, "you know it's not going to be easy, right?" She asked. "dating a single mother." 

"I know." Nathanael said, "but I'm sure it'll be worth it."

Lila smiled and turned her head, kissing his cheek. Nathaniel turned as red as his hair, a stupid grin on his face.


End file.
